tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54095032301983270452018-12-16T02:16:03.080-08:00Davin Comedy BlogDavin Rosenblatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06089495720643921183noreply@blogger.comBlogger241125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5409503230198327045.post-69900052948768867832018-12-13T08:51:00.000-08:002018-12-13T08:51:05.854-08:00DON'T HIRE A COMEDIAN - By Davin Rosenblatt<br /><div class="MsoNormal">You don’t want a comedian. I know as a comedian and someone who owns a talent agency that makes comedians available to restaurants, corporations, and private people I am not supposed to say that. It is counter-intuitive and it hurts my wallet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Still, I think it best I save us all a bit of trouble and heartache.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">You saw a comedian on tv or their video clip or in a club or have a vague concept of what stand up comedy is from the opening scene of old Seinfeld episodes and it looks like a good time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>You are correct, it is a good time. The audience in front of that performer knew they were seeing a comedian, wanted to see a comedian, and were doing so in an environment conducive to seeing a comedian. When you have those elements comedy can be magical. It is a good time. You want to bring that to the people you care or about or are tasked with entertaining. I get that. You are a good person and you just want to spread joy. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">You contact a comedian or an agency and are eager to put this together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>However, a lot of the people at the event do not know a comedian will be part of the festivities. Surprise comedy is never a good idea. Tell the people that you are bringing in a comedian. That way the people who want to see it will be excited and those who do not can excuse themselves while the comedian is performing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>The comedian you saw was hilarious but they curse too much. There are some people <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span>attending your event who are sensitive to some expletives. You would like comedian X but can they refrain from cursing you ask. Some of them can. Some of them can’t. You saw a video or them in person and they cursed a lot and you enjoyed that show and you would like that show but different. Does that really make sense? Do you go to a play and ask them to alter the dialogue? <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Maybe cursing is not an issue. Maybe they don’t curse at all. However, you really enjoyed the show but their joke about race or religion or politics or Brussel sprouts or lawn chairs may offend some people. Can the comedian not talk about those topics? And while we’re at it let’s not talk about sex, gender identity, or Lady Gaga…just to be safe. But you definitely want to create the exact some feel and enjoyment that you experienced when you saw Comedian X…just none of those things he talks about. Does that make sense? Do you have your favorite restaurant cater your party but tell them not to serve the food that you enjoyed so much. If they could just do a more bland version of everything or have a menu of nothing you tasted and enjoyed that would be wonderful.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Why am I bringing this up? Because every day we are reading headlines of people or colleges or organizations hiring comedians who do exactly what they always do…their act and then being outraged that the comedian did their act.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>There are plenty of comedians that can work without cursing or without taboo topics or even vaguely provocative material.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>You will find many of them on cruise ships. Hire them. You will pay a lot for them but they will be very safe. Don’t hire the comedian who has a Netflix special that you love, for your office party, give, them no idea what is off limits until 5 minutes before the show and expect it to go well. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;&nbsp;</span>I know good comedians make our performance look effortless. News flash…it takes a lot of effort to make it look effortless.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>When you change the rules of engagement right before the show bad things will happen. A lengthy conversation before contracts are signed can save everyone a lot of disappointment.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Colleges think they want comedians…you don’t. Comedians talk a lot of shit. We look at the world differently than you. We see humor in everything. It is why we are good comedians. A comedy show should never be a safe space. Even if nothing “offensive” happens part of the allure of live stand up is that something naughty could happen at any moment. It is the titillation. Comedians need that edge…even if we never approach it. If everything is off limits and everything is too much then maybe let’s agree that college is no longer a “safe space” to exchange ideas. Standup is an exchange of ideas. If our ideas are too much for you that is fine. Just don’t ask us to stand up there and talk about nothing. If I talk about Nike someone will be offended because they use poor child laborers or Colin Kaepernick<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>and now we are into the abyss of some one is offended. We really were just talking about how hard it is to get the new Jordans and when we were growing up we went to the supermarket for our shoes. Even when we are not making a political statement to someone we may be making a statement. And we can’t have that in college these days.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Don’t get me wrong. Stand up comedy is great in comedy clubs, firehouses, Elks lodges, restaurants, etc. Go see it! It is fun. It can be nice for birthday parties or corporate events. Just make sure everyone is on the same page way before the gig starts. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">If you are unsure if comedy is right or you are unwilling to let the comedian be the comedian they are than I suggest, magicians, jugglers, pianists, face painters, palm readers, djs, etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>There is much less chance one of these performers will say something that is “offensive.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Please support comedy. See it live in the venues I mentioned. Bring your friends to see us in those venues. If you really want us for your special event we will do it but keep in mind stand-up comedians are much closer to tigers than we are to tabbies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>We are a bit dangerous and unpredictable. Please see us in our natural habitat. If you invite us into your habitat don’t be surprised if everyone leaves with a few scratches and bite marks. (I charge extra for the bite marks).<o:p></o:p></div><br />Davin Rosenblatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06089495720643921183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5409503230198327045.post-56136101276352131742018-12-07T09:23:00.003-08:002018-12-07T09:23:38.177-08:00Godzilla v. Tea Roses - By Pip Helix (Davin's Den)<br /> <br /><div class="MsoNormal">There is a certain type of personality that I find very difficult to be around, and that is the self-aggrandizing blowhard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>We all know the type – the guy who barges into places, talking too loudly, mostly about himself and his real or imagined accomplishments, and who only values the people around him for what they can do for him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Look at me, be impressed by me, you matter little to me!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Stomping around like Godzilla through a bed of tea roses, these people lack any sort of humility, sensitivity or perspective.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I worked for one of these people for many years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Fans of our show and Facebook friends of mine know the stories I have told about my Evil Overlords at my previous day program, and he was the head of the Overlords.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>What a difficult man, in so many ways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>If you told a funny story, he had to tell a story that he imagined was better than yours (even if the rambling conclusion was not always clear, and not always funny).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>If he gave direction in an unclear way, he would bellow and belittle any attempt at clarification, and you certainly would have your head handed to you for making a mistake.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>He was the hero of every story he told, the mastermind who knew better than the experts in the room, and could be incredibly spiteful of any attempt to overshadow his “perfection”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Does any of this sound familiar in the current climate?<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I suffered a lot of emotional damage at that job, and found that his style of sometimes being beneficent and kind, followed by outrageous bouts of rage and bluster, gave me a type of PTSD.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I would silently rage while he would speak to me as if I was a slow child, insulting my intellect and position at the same time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>It occurs to me that some of the most unappealing parts of his personality and behavior are mirrored by our current Liar in Chief.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I am outraged by the behavior we are all witnessing, but I am also feeling incredibly triggered – reliving some of the more egregious incidents that made me a nervous wreck.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>It’s hard to parse which is more enraging, the current outrageous daily assaults on Twitter and the daily headlines, or the past unbelievably unprofessional behavior I had to deal with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Either way, I find myself to be in a nearly daily state of anger and despair.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal">In the old day program, I felt trapped in a job, overseen by a blustering megalomaniac.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Today, I feel unable to change anything while watching decisions made by our blustering leader that feel so clearly to be based on lies, unscientific gut feelings, ego, and promises to powerful enemies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>That feeling of helplessness mixed with anger washes over me just as it did a few years ago, and I feel physically sick from it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>It’s just so similar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Other people saw the behavior of the Evil Overlord, but did nothing to curb his more overbearing behavior for years on end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Good people who could leave did so, and others who were not as able to leave their positions were stifled under the weight of his ego and unchecked power. Now, I see people actively demonstrating and resisting the same kind of monster, and yet no matter how many tea roses get crushed, this Godzilla is still loose in the garden, destroying everything it sees, and no one seems able to stop it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>It is soul-crushing to live through it on both a micro-, and now macro- level. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span><o:p></o:p></div><br />Davin Rosenblatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06089495720643921183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5409503230198327045.post-35473703663217543712018-11-29T08:00:00.005-08:002018-11-29T08:00:57.004-08:00 WILL YOU DO THE FANDANGO? - By Joe Currie (Davin's Den)<br /><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;</span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Last week Joe’s girl and I went to see Bohemian Rhapsody. I have not been to a movie in years and my how things have changed.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">First I made reservations on line which I have never done before, then they want me to reserve my seats. Reserve my seats?? Just let me walk in and pick where I’m going to sit when I actually see the riff raff in front of me.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I arrive at movies, go to the presale line and grab my tickets with the assigned seat. I was hemming and hawing all the way into the theater, I walk in and along with the popcorn I also ate my words.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The theater had big reclining seats with cup holders and plenty of room, it ruled and now I know why the reserved seats.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">After twenty minutes of trailers, TWENTY MINUTES?? We get it, you’re trying to push other movies but you could make it ten. To be fair they actually tell you on line its twenty minutes which does give you time to get a backup snack or take a final leak.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The movie was incredible. I remember when the song Bohemian Rhapsody came out. I was a latchkey kid and my Mom gave me a list of chores I had to do after school. I would put on the hit station at the time 99X and do my chores. When I first heard Bohemian rhapsody I remember stopping what I was doing and just listening, I never heard anything like it before, it was amazing. I remember after that every time I would hear it I would act it out years before Wayne’s World.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Queen was amazing, I remember the band I used to be a roadie for play Tie your mother down and always felt like it was one of the best rock tunes ever.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As for the movie, the story was very good and I had a hard time not singing along or playing air guitar as I don’t want to appear to be the riff raff I did not want to sit next to.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I loved the movie and so did Joe’s girl and on the way out we talked about how great Queen was or is. Don’t forget they still play, first with Paul Rodgers of Bad Company, and now with Adam Lambert from American Idol which I think is a wise choice, and one Freddie Mercury would approve of.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;&nbsp; </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I have been a musician for thirty years and have been working in bands since I was sixteen and have been a major fan for a lot more and I have tried to learn everything about all the bands in rock and know all their histories as a fan.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It’s amazing the difference of opinion of people I have played with and have talked about the love of music and their opinion on the movie.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Fred my drummer in Rotgut thought the movie was awful and was not accurate and left a lot of the story out.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Jimi my drummer in Sexy Suzn who is a seasoned as Fred and knows his musical history as well as him thought the movie was fantastic.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As I said I thought the movie was phenomenal. Fred felt that the music was not in chronological order and they did not mention other facts in the movie such as how Brian May and his dad built his first guitar. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I agree with Fred on the music not being in chronological order, but I did realize that it was not a documentary but a movie and as such they had to keep the story moving.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I would know this personally as Davin, our friend Chip and myself are writing a story of my life of struggling to make it in the entertainment business in the shadow of two close friends that have. The story has me playing in a band, doing stand up, and doing a radio show while trying to keep my marriage together. We actually got a comment back that the story is not believable that somebody does all this stuff. I found that hysterical as it’s my life seven days a week.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But here is the deal; it’s not a documentary about me it’s a story about me. Davin and Chip are doing the main writing and I have been adding because even though I am not Freddie Mercury, or in Queen, the tie in is the exact details slow the story down. During my real life I live part of the story, when I read the script a lot of the stress the character faces would be too much in real life.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Go see Bohemian rhapsody and please remember it’s a story and not a documentary and you will enjoy it. Hopefully in the near further you will see my story which will not be a documentary and hope you will enjoy it as well. Don’t forget as Queen said, “Is this the real life or is this just Fantasy”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />Davin Rosenblatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06089495720643921183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5409503230198327045.post-87223321740091067852018-11-19T10:17:00.000-08:002018-11-19T10:17:04.743-08:00THURSDAY THANKS - By Davin Rosenblatt<br /><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I am thankful for Thursday. Not the one coming up that Americans call Thanksgiving. The one from last week that was a complete white shit show. It was awful, don’t get me wrong. Eight hours in snow and ice and never getting to your destination is a very bad day indeed but I realize it could have been much, much, worse.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I should probably back this up a bit. I was scheduled to do a show in Huntington, NY which is Long Island. With a decent commute it is a two hour ride. For days the weather forecast was for two to four inches of snow where I live. Lesser amounts around the city. Not a big deal for those of us who live in the North East. We are used to that driving. It is slower. It is more treacherous but it is manageable for most of us. This was a very good paying show for a person I have only worked for once before. I would be working with Joe Currie which was nice too. With the forecast the way it was I planned on giving myself extra time to get there. I gave myself 5 hours for what is normally a two hour drive. I was giving myself so much extra time that Joe and I planned on meeting for dinner before the show.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I looked out the window and saw that it was just starting to snow. I figured it was time to hit the road. I put my shovel in the back of my car…just in case. I brought some gloves with me since it was chilly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I was low on gas but I would fill up when I got to NJ since it was much cheaper there and I had more than enough to get to the gas station. I put on my cowboy boots and into the weather I went.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">My car was slipping and sliding more than I liked but I was able to keep it on the road.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I got onto 17 East in NY and started to make my way to the gig. Everything was moving well until it wasn’t. A couple of miles into my drive and we were not moving. I was watching the snow pile up on the highway as we sat. Truth be told for the amount of snow we had so far there was a lot on the highway. Didn’t they salt ahead of time? Didn’t they plow? Around 4:30 I texted Joe and told him I was sitting in traffic and I would update him. I told him where I was which was essentially not far from my house. Slowly we started to move. And then stop. And then move. The thing with driving in the snow is once you stop on an incline you may not be able to start again. You may get stuck. I got stuck. In the middle of the highway. It is a scary feeling when you are in the middle of a highway in slippery conditions and you have to worry about getting yourself unstuck and worry about somebody hitting you. I managed to get myself moving again. I am thankful I did. I am thankful nobody hit me. As I made my way down 17 ever so slowly I saw car accidents in the middle lane, left lane, and right lane. Everyone would shift to get around one accident and then another one would be right in front of you. Rinse repeat. I am thankful I was not one of those cars that were in an accident on 17. There were cars that slid off the side of the road. I am thankful I was not one of them.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I was listening to the traffic report and they shut down the George Washington Bridge. There was a 30 car accident on the upper level. I am thankful I was not one of those cars. This was now backing up traffic for hours in all directions. It looked like I had to take the Tappan Zee Bridge which I am unfamiliar with as far as getting to Long Island. My wife made me install Waze a few months ago. I rarely use it. I used it Thursday since it is good for alternate routes and updated traffic on those routes. I am thankful I had Waze.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I started my way down the NYS Thruway. I would not be heading to NJ to take the George Washington Bridge. All this time in the car and spinning tires took its’ toll on my gas tank. I was now very low.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I was in the left lane trying to stay on the road. Gas was all the way to my right at a rest area. I dared not try and get there. I would have to take my chances and hope I could find a gas station along the way.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I continued down the Thruway and got stuck again. Once again another car stopping in front of me caused me to stop and I could not get it going again. Somehow I got myself free and continued. I was thankful for that. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Finally I saw two snow plows. First ones I had seen. Where were they? One of the drivers was an asshole and cut me off and appeared to be mad at me like I knew where he wanted to go. He has the snow plow. I have a compact car without snow tires. I came upon an exit. I figured I would get off there and get some gas. I got off but I sat on the ramp for 30 minutes. Traffic was a mess. I looked to my right and saw a gas station a few blocks away. I did not think I would have enough time to make this gig if I dared try and battle this traffic. Instead I got back on the Thruway.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Waze did not want me to take the Tappan Zee Bridge. It wanted me to get off the Thruway in about 15 miles. That would take me to the end of the limit with my gas. It was a gamble. I struggled along in the left lane. It was the cleanest lane. Now I had a cop behind me with his lights on riding my bumper. He could have gone around me to the middle lane. His car was better suited for that. He did not. He made me switch lanes into a very snowy middle lane. He is a douche. I kept on going and once again on an incline the car in front of me stopped. I was stuck. A Mustang was fishtailing to my right. He was coming very close to hitting me. I had a car behind me so I could not reverse. To the left were the woods. I was stuck. I did not have the room to reverse or try and drift to the right side and I did not want to go off the road. I got out of the car in my cowboy boots to assess the situation. Cowboy boots are not the best for snow and ice. I tried to use my shovel to dig out. I am thankful I brought my shovel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I tried to dig out. Nothing. I lent the shovel to the guy in the Mustang so he could try and dig out. Nothing. Traffic was building behind us. I was at the beginning of a good old fashioned standstill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>More people were getting out and trying to help each other. Some cars were able to get free.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>If I could get free it might free up more traffic. Another guy tried to work around my tires and knock off some ice. The Mustang driver tried to help me too. My car was not going anywhere but these guys were right by my tires. I did not want to hit them. I did not. I am thankful I didn’t. The guy in the Mustang told me to take off my anti-lock on the tires. I thought that was for better traction. Taking it off made all the difference in the world as with that bit of advice, the other guy pushing, and my tires spinning I was able to get moving again. I am thankful to both of them for their help.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Now my car was screaming at me that I needed gas. All that spinning had inflicted damage on my gas tank. I had a few more miles to get to my exit. I made it. I am thankful. There was no gas to be found right off the exit so I continued to follow Waze while worrying about running out of gas. I also had to pee and was thirsty. Still nothing. Finally I came to a traffic light. Waze said turn left. It looked like a small road. Before I turned I gave a hard look down the road I was on. I saw lights. I hoped it was a gas station. It was. I am thankful I looked. I am thankful for the full tank of gas. I am thankful for the bathroom. I am thankful for the bottle of water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal">It was time to get into the car and make my way towards the George Washington Bridge. Enough time had passed to where it was open but now it would just be insane delays. I made my way. And then I sat. Road shut down temporarily as there were cars in the ditch. Finally that cleared up.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">I got in touch with Joe and he told me to head home. I called the man who hired me. He sounded in a panic that there would not be enough show. I tried to get in touch with Joe again to see if he wanted me to keep trying. I couldn’t get in touch with him. I sat in a strip mall while I waited. I went to get a slice of pizza. The pizza place was out of pizza. Finally I got back in touch with Joe. He told me that the original host cancelled so Joe hired another headliner and they would be able to cover the time. I am thankful Joe hired another headliner to replace the host.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I made my way home with a full tank of gas and an empty stomach. I found a pizza place on 17 North in NJ. They had pizza. I am thankful they did and that they were open.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I made it home over eight hours after I left accomplishing nothing but survival. For that I am thankful. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span>Some people were stuck in their car for 15 hours. I was not one of them. I am thankful. Some people got into car accidents. I did not. For that I am thankful. One person lost their life when their car slid onto the rail road tracks and died. I did not perish and for that I am thankful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I made it home in one piece and my car no worse for wear. I am thankful. My wife and neighbor shoveled so I could pull into the driveway. For that I am thankful. There were even fresh cookies waiting for me. I am thankful my family made cookies and left me some. Joe and the other comic were able to cover the time and the show went well. I am thankful. On Friday I got in touch with the man that hired me and he was very understanding. I am thankful for that. On Saturday Joe gave me some money for my effort to get there. I am thankful for that.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">So Thursday had a lot of bad things. Many of which should have been avoided by local authorities. Still all things considered I was pretty lucky. And for that I am thankful. Being thankful in the face of hardship can be very hard but in this case it helped me keep my sanity and for that I am thankful.<o:p></o:p></div><br />Davin Rosenblatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06089495720643921183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5409503230198327045.post-88899371499594102442018-11-07T07:44:00.002-08:002018-11-07T07:44:46.927-08:00NANA - By Pip Helix (Davin's Den)<div data-test-id="message-view-body" style="background-color: white; color: #26282a; font-family: &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, &quot;Lucida Grande&quot;, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><div class="msg-body P_wpofO iy_A" data-test-id="message-view-body-content" style="font-family: &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: normal; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow-x: auto; padding: 2px 0px 0px;"><div class="jb_0 X_6MGW N_6Fd5" style="padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 24px; padding-right: 16px;"><div id="yiv6401619428"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr" id="yiv6401619428divRplyFwdMsg"><div style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">My Nana was born in 1899, which as a child, confused me.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">How could someone be from the time before the 1900’s and be alive?</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">To be fair, that would only make her 64 when I was born, the youngest child of her youngest child.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Still, that number seemed to be magical, as if she was not only from another time, but from another dimension.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">She knew all kinds of old-fashioned things, lost arts and ways, that I found fascinating and comforting.</span></div><div style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">Nana was a professional nurturer.&nbsp;&nbsp;She had 5 daughters who grew up during and in the aftermath of the depression, and she was used to making due with whatever she could scrounge up to make a nice home for my grandfather and her daughters.&nbsp;&nbsp;She made the clothes my mother and aunts wore, cooked and baked everything they ate, and kept her modest house clean and covered with doilies.&nbsp;&nbsp;She excelled at the domestic arts, and was also a pretty decent painter for someone without any formal training.&nbsp;</div><div style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">When I was small, I would spend nearly every day at Nana’s with my mother, who it seems could not be trusted to be alone with me.&nbsp;&nbsp;My mother’s schizophrenia was barely reigned in during those years, and my father told the story of racing home from work with his heart in his throat after getting a phone call from my mother, who said that the voices were telling her to put the baby’s hand in the fan.&nbsp;&nbsp;The fact that I have both hands is a matter of that white-knuckle ride my father took, and the little bit of sense that told my mother to ask from help before obeying the voices.&nbsp;&nbsp;It was decided that we would spend every day with Nana, newly widowed, until Dad was done with work.</div><div style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">During those days, my Nana showered me with hugs and attention and love, all while endlessly listening to me prattle on.&nbsp;&nbsp;I don’t know how she stood the pain of seeing my mother, deteriorated to obviously paranoid and delusional, while keeping up with an active and very talkative toddler.&nbsp;&nbsp;When I got my own first home, I unwittingly started to decorate it like an old lady, trying to recreate the warmth and security I felt at Nana’s house.</div><div style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">She would make me very weak coffee with milk and sugar, so I could have coffee while she and my mother did.&nbsp;&nbsp;I had an old playset of pots and pans at her house, handed down a million times, including dishes and a couple of food items – a plastic lobster, a corn on the cob, and one other thing I don’t quite recall.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;I don’t know how many meals I served Nana which were variations on that menu, but she happily ate them all, along with gallons of imaginary tea.&nbsp;&nbsp;I felt safe napping in her back bedroom, with the sound of the small planes from nearby Teterboro airport buzzing overhead as I slept on the chenille bedspread.&nbsp;&nbsp;Of course, she still believed that you treat burns with butter, and held some odd beliefs – “Let’s eat dessert before dinner tonight, like the Jewish people do.” – but was never unkind, and tried to keep the peace with everyone.&nbsp;&nbsp;My cousin once admitted to me that Nana told her, in strictest confidence, that she was her favorite grandchild.&nbsp;&nbsp;We laughed when I told her that I had been told the very same thing.&nbsp;&nbsp;I’ll be that all of the grandchildren got the same special message.&nbsp;&nbsp;Whether that was the healthiest thing or not is up for debate, but it made me feel special, and my cousin said the same.</div><div style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">&nbsp;&nbsp;</div><div style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">There was a time, when I was a teenager, that I was angry at Nana for not having stepped in and helped us financially when my Dad could no longer afford our house, when I was four years old.&nbsp;&nbsp;In those days, health insurance didn’t do very much for mental illness, and my mother’s multiple shock treatments cost an extraordinary amount for a family living on a postman’s salary.&nbsp;&nbsp;Eventually, he could not pay both the medical bills and the mortgage, and something had to give.&nbsp;&nbsp;My father’s parents helped out a bit, but Nana didn’t.&nbsp;&nbsp;There was a belief in my mother’s family that somehow my father had caused my mother’s illness, because she had been fine up until childbirth.&nbsp;&nbsp;Unfortunately, it was childbirth that brought out her schizophrenic tendencies to the fore, but ignorance led them to blame my father, and therefore, no financial aid was forthcoming.</div><div style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">The shame of having to move back to apartments after having made it into a house was more than my father could bear.&nbsp;Besides the loss of face, the most heartbreaking part of losing our house was losing our family dog, who we could not take with us into the “no pets” apartments my father found.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;I watched as my brother handed over the leash of his beloved dog to strangers, and then watched his heart break into a million pieces, some of which he left on that front porch.</div><div style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">I held onto that anger for some years, trying to reconcile the loving woman I grew up with and the stingy woman who would let our family suffer such a downfall.&nbsp;&nbsp;With maturity, I came to understand that she was living on very modest means herself, and wasn’t in the position to save our house.&nbsp;&nbsp;Also, I could understand how it seemed like cause and effect that my father’s entrance into my mother’s life corresponded with a lively, intelligent and talented woman descending into madness.&nbsp;&nbsp;The heartache they must’ve felt to see such a change in my mother was probably overwhelming, and they needed somewhere to place the blame.&nbsp;&nbsp;So sad for my father that people’s understanding of mental illness was still in such an ignorant state at the time.&nbsp;&nbsp;He didn’t deserve any blame for anything, except for his drinking, which I’m sure he did to cope with a terrible situation.</div><div style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">Now that all of this is well in the past, I remember my Nana extremely fondly, and find that in times of trouble, I put myself back in her house, in that back bedroom, and I feel the warmth of the sun streaming in the window, while I snuggled in chenille, and the familiar sounds of the small airplanes buzzing overhead.&nbsp;&nbsp;I think of her when I take my coffee with too much milk and sugar, and I wish that I could talk to her now, woman to woman, and find out who she was when she wasn’t nurturing everyone else.</div></div></div></div></div><div class="jb_0 X_6MGW N_6Fd5" style="padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 24px; padding-right: 16px;"><div class=""><div class="qtd-body" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0px; padding: 8px;"><div class="yiv6401619428yqt2686103629" id="yiv6401619428yqtfd19529"></div></div><div class="qtd-body" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0px; padding: 8px;"><div class="yiv6401619428yqt2686103629" id="yiv6401619428yqtfd07279"><br clear="none" /></div></div><div class="qtd-body" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0px; padding: 8px;"><div class="yiv6401619428yqt2686103629" id="yiv6401619428yqtfd77020"><div class="yiv6401619428x_ydp668a15d0yahoo-style-wrap"><div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="jb_0 X_6MGW N_6Fd5" style="padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 24px; padding-right: 16px;"></div></div><div class="H_7jIs D_F ab_C Q_69H5 E_36RhU" data-test-id="toolbar-hover-area" style="-webkit-box-align: center; align-items: center; background-color: white; color: #26282a; display: flex; font-family: &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, &quot;Lucida Grande&quot;, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; height: 64px; margin-left: -8px; margin-right: -20px;"><div class="D_F W_6D6F r_BN gl_C" data-test-id="card-toolbar" style="-webkit-box-pack: center; cursor: default; display: flex; justify-content: center; width: 822px;"></div></div>Davin Rosenblatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06089495720643921183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5409503230198327045.post-65966590357829389662018-11-01T11:05:00.002-07:002018-11-01T11:05:46.281-07:00SUPER HEROES DON’T WEAR JACKETS - Joe Currie (Davin's Den)<br /><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Halloween is in several days and the big Compound party is tonight.</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The Compound parties are always a blast, and three years ago Anthony Cumia thought themes would be good idea. In the past years, we had an Eighties theme, a Jaws theme, and a TV show theme. This year it will be commercials.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As I get ready for the party tonight I am looking back. When I was a kid it was a major deal, why?? You got to dress like an asshole, bang on doors and ask for treats. I wish I could do that every day.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">You would plan what you wanted to be and thought it would be the coolest costume ever, and that day came, you were a super hero.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">You thought when you rang that door bell people wouldn’t know if you were there for candy, or to save the day. I was planning to tell people don’t worry citizen that there was nothing to fear that I’m just here for a tasty snack.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I was a super hero and I was invincible, and nothing could stop me,,, except for the cold. A cool fall afternoon meant a jacket from Mom. I explained to my mortal mother that Super Heroes don’t wear jackets. She explained to me that they do if they want to trick or treat.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">You know what it’s like when you ring the door bell and the lady asks you who are you supposed to be? And you have to open a snorkel jacket and show her an “S”. I should have just said Eskimo and called it day.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I never really gave out the candy when I was married, that job fell to my wife as with my schedule I never get home until midnight. That being said I did make sure that the candy was top notch because bad candy means eggs and shaving cream.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></b><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">When I was a kid when you would get shit candy, an apple (razor or no razor) or pennies this was a guaranteed spot on the hit list for that night. So I knew if I did not want my house to look like an omelet or a Gillette commercial it’s Milky Way all the way.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Halloween night was fun, egging and spraying shaving cream over everything in site was a pisser. One year my Mom even bought me shaving cream, as long as I wore a jacket.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As I am writing this I had a thought, do kids today even go out egging?? I think they just have an app on their phone for that now. Well another lost art gone to the wayside.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As I got older I stopped with Halloween, I was not one of those guys at eighteen that would bang on the door and the lady would open it, and say who are you supposed to be?? Stoned and hungry lady, give me a three musketeers. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">For years after I never participated in Halloween or dressed up for parties. I could not be bothered. The good thing about Halloween parties though is it gives chicks the excuse to wear the skimpiest stuff they can which is good as candy I say.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The one thing about this time of year is I sometimes forget its Halloween time and I will go to the diner and wonder why these people are dressed like assholes? Then it dawns on me that I’m the asshole who can’t read a calendar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">For the past ten years I have gone back to dressing up at parties because you look like an uptight dick if you don’t. I am actually am an uptight dick, but better to look like someone else that night. I don’t want to give away what I am wearing at the party tonight but I will be in a tee shirt and it may be cold at the Compound tonight. I am going to wish I had a jacket.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Mom was right again. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;&nbsp;</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;&nbsp;</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />Davin Rosenblatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06089495720643921183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5409503230198327045.post-64396358345290208542018-10-15T11:08:00.004-07:002018-10-15T11:08:56.998-07:00CONFLICTED SILENCE - By Davin Rosenblatt<br /><div class="MsoNormal">It occurs to me that even the most politically correct around me have no issue with talking ill of the Hassidic Jews in the region where I live. The non-politically correct do as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>When neighbors get together and the prospect of the Hassidim moving in comes up it is almost always unified against them.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I should give a bit of background perhaps. In my region there is a neighborhood called Kiryas Joel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>It is almost exclusively Hassidic Jews. If you go there wearing a short skirt they will certainly make you feel unwelcome. It is their enclave and they have no problem trying to make you <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span>conform to their religious preference.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>They also vote as a block so they have a lot political power. Politicians bend to meet their needs therefore they receive a lot of tax dollars. Dollars that other communities do not get. This creates resentment.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">They also move into other areas and try and get on school boards. Their children do not go to the public schools. They go to private school called Yeshivas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>They try and get on the school board and then do not want to invest tax payer dollars back into the school system. Then the school system fails.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Now this is not all Hassidim but it does seem to be how a lot of them operate in my region.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">When rumors surface that they are planning to buy property in the local communities a sense of dread falls over the locals. Including people that are very close to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>For my part I don’t want public schools defunded and I really don’t like a homogenous population of any type around me. I like diversity. I don’t like a pack like attitude. Anyway, local towns have actually changed laws to make sure they can limit the power an influx of Hassidim would have. It is like people look at their town as a crop and the Hassidim are locusts about to descend and leave nothing but an empty husk.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Still, if Puerto Ricans or African Americans practiced the same approach as the local Hassidim would people be so open about their disdain? Would it be acceptable? Would people say it in hushed tones to me? I don’t think they would. I know some think what they are doing is wrong because I say nothing. I just listen and then they feel the need to try and clean up what they said. The clean up is almost always parts of what I outlined above. But does justifying ones bigotry excuse it? I don’t think it does. I can’t say I am much better. I don’t want the Hassidim moving in and doing what they have done other places. I don’t campaign against them. I am more of the wait and see approach. If they try those tactics I will do all in my political power to put an end to it. I don’t want one political block having say over my whole town. Maybe I am too trusting. Maybe I should be more proactive.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Still it just strikes me as wrong to speak openly and negatively about a whole group of people I have not met. It strikes me as some think it is acceptable because they are Jews and history shows us bigotry against Jews is always more tolerated. When they speak negatively about the Hassidim I don’t stick up for the Hassidim. If I was sure what they did was right I think I would. I am conflicted.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">The anti-Hassidim feeling very well could lead to open hostility if they move in. This could make the Hassidim even more insulated and less likely to consider what it means to be a good neighbor. It is not hard to see that once you are hostile to one type of Jew that it could easily spread to other Jews. Anti-semitism could rapidly increase.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>I think both the Hassidim and the community are victims here. The Hassidim are victims of being judged without getting to know them individually while some communities have become victims of the Hassidim playing the political game better than everybody else.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>It does strike me that some who detest how the Hassidim have played the game praise the president when he finds loopholes and work arounds to get exactly what he wants. Maybe it is fine when you are not personally on the short end or maybe it is fine if it is not a Jew gaming the system.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">History tells us this will not end well for the Jews. If it does get worse I hope it becomes clearer to me that I should say something. That I should not let people think I will give these feelings of hate an audience. For now I will probably continue to remain silent. My silence seems to give people the feeling that I am not on board with them and the feeling that they need to clarify. Maybe my internal doubt can manifest itself into others doubting that it is alright to talk about strangers in such a way of disdain.<o:p></o:p></div><br />Davin Rosenblatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06089495720643921183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5409503230198327045.post-32849853645908901102018-10-11T08:20:00.001-07:002018-10-11T08:20:08.600-07:00Shrink Shopping - By Pip Helix (Davin's Den)<br /><div class="MsoNormal">It will come as a surprise to absolutely no one that I have been seeing a therapist for about as long as some of you have been alive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Oh, this is news to you?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>You clearly don’t listen to our show.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Well, I have as many issues as a newsstand, as they say, so I have been on the couch for years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>From issues arising from my mother’s schizophrenia, and my father’s death, to depression, to other fun items that have cropped up in the ensuing years, I have worn out several therapists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Well, it’s more accurate to say that therapists have come and gone, due to retirements or moving to other jobs, but throughout it all, I have been going to the same general therapy group all this time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>As a matter of fact, it’s the same group that my mother had gotten her treatment from for many years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal">When my family struggled with issues due to my mother, we had group sessions with her previous therapist, which made it easy to skip over the whole deal of trying to explain her particular behavior.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>After my father died, my mother, brother and I had group sessions with the same woman, and then after that, I saw her alone for several years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>It was difficult to transition from her to my second therapist, but we did develop a rapport, and it was a blow to have her suddenly leave the practice due to unknown medical reasons. That meant I moved onto number three.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>She is very nice, and is comforting, but we don’t seem to actually be getting anywhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I am an onion, and there are levels to my madness, but I think in a year or so, we have stayed on the surface, and I am getting more of a pat on the head and a lollypop than anything else.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Now, not all therapists can prescribe medications, so that meant that I had to see a psychiatrist from time to time to renew my medications, too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I adored the first one, who left to join another practice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I HATED the second one, who was condescending and insulting, and I am having a problem feeling comfortable with this third one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>She almost seems to have more issues than me, particularly an eating disorder she seems to still struggle with, and I am getting concerned that our meetings to renew my medication are more about her needs to vent than my need to get my meds and get the fuck out of there.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">So, for the first time, I am dipping a toe in the waters outside of this practice, and looking for actual, moving forward type of help.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>It is scaring the pants off of me.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I searched the internet for possible new candidates, and found one woman who seems okay so far.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I just met with her for an intake kind of visit, where you are asked a bunch of routine questions to narrow down just what kind of sicko you are, and on my side, it was to see how we fit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>It was tough to tell how this will work yet, but I kind of felt like I was cheating on my therapist the whole time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I haven’t cut ties with the old place yet, because I don’t want to do that until I’m sure I’m in a good place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>She seems more professional than the place I am used to, and that is a bonus, but it’s scary to move away from the familiar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>But, in terms of where I am in my life, and my general happiness, I have to be brave and step away from what seems to be palliative mental health care, and onto a bit of tough love- let’s get your lazy ass going - type of care.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal">Next step is trying to find a new psychiatrist to prescribe meds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I don’t want to just break with my nice therapist and have to keep going back to that person who is not a good fit for meds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I guess I need to finally break with the old practice altogether.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>It is familiar, but it is also haunted with the ghost of my mother’s former presence, and with unhappy associations of other sorts as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I have a list of possible choices, and I am going to ask my insurance company, too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>It’s all been something I have been thinking about for a few months, but actually doing it is making me anxious as hell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>What a stupid time to quit smoking.<o:p></o:p></div><br />Davin Rosenblatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06089495720643921183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5409503230198327045.post-4392908057461566352018-10-01T06:49:00.001-07:002018-10-01T06:49:12.651-07:00 TIME AND COMMON SENSE - By Joe Currie (Davin's Den)<br /><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">As an entertainer I go on Face book<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>and twitter as a necessity, as Davin’s Den does a lot of political commentary I need to be abreast and do research on current events and this takes a lot of my time. <o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Here is where time and common sense come into play.<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">For those of us in the nine to five world we get up, have to do whatever it takes to get the kids to school and us to work. We get our news on the way to work as we sit in traffic and on the way home as we sit in traffic. The rest of the day consists of phone calls, meetings and deadlines, we don’t have the time or luxury to sit look up statistics.<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">When we get home we are exhausted we have dinner, a little TV, help the kids with their home work and get to bed to repeat the same routine for the next day.<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">We grab the news when we can and then make our decisions based on how it affects us in general and then apply common sense to it. <o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">When I hear that the tax cuts I have been given are crumbs I don’t need statistics, these crumbs translate to over one hundred and twenty dollars in my pay check every month. This money pays my electric or cable bills every month, not liberal rhetoric.<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">It’s common sense, and if you speak out you get criticized.<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">When I read that a meeting with an adversary is treasonous and you speak in favor of it you get criticized. Let’s apply business common sense to this. If you have business partner or customer that you feel could affect sales due to their objections over issues you want to meet them, play golf with them, or go to dinner. You want to know them, see what makes them tick. A lot of animosity you have with someone thaws when you meet them in person and get a dialog going. Also getting a feel of someone is also essential in future negotiations.<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">When you speak out about trade agreements you get criticized. Common sense would dictate that we have had unfair trade agreements for years and they need to be corrected. Tariffs are a current concern but they will lead to the long term solution of getting the new agreements in place. In addition a lot goes into importing goods. For example, it takes at least three months from time of order to time of delivery of merchandise from China, if it is the Chinese holiday, add another month. Also if your container is held up in customs add two more weeks for delivery. Ask any purchasing manager and they will tell you, getting domestic product is much easier and now with the margins so close some companies are making the switch to domestic products. Most people want domestically made goods and while somebody is sitting quoting me a statistic I am in a bin making sure my customer gets the last of a domestically made good. This manufacture of this good is also finding out now that they made a big mistake of switching to an import and are reassign their decision at this writing.<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span>When you support someone taking a stand on over privileged, pampered athletes that received a free education, that were wined and dined to pick the place to get the free education , and make in a season where many of us won’t make in years kneel during the national anthem you get criticized <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span>. For the under two minutes that song plays we stop and stand together it says we are not a perfect country but we have the freedom to right the wrongs in it. Its common sense but if you speak out you are a racist and wrong.<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">When you hear a senator who is a proven phony talk about campaign reform and your common sense says they are a carnival huckster and this is just for votes you get criticized.<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">When a racist group gets attacked by a subversive group that is violent and your common sense says that both groups are terrorist organizations you get criticized for being a racist.<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">When you see a movement that chose mostly people that don’t comply with the law and with criminal records martyrs, you use your common sense and speak out on it you are called racist.<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The bottom line is there are two fractions in this country. The common sense observation is the first fraction is one that had eight years of getting their hand held and have had the benefit of any objection to them shot down, and the people that questioned<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>those objections shot down and labeled as racists and hate mongers. This contingent knew that it was a slam dunk that they would have four more years of this. When the reality hit that would not be the case, they were left traumatized and disillusioned and have treated the new administration with a hatred that contradicts any of their ideology of acceptance especially when none of their fears have come true.<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The second fraction of this country were people that saw the country start to be divided, other countries seeing us at a position of weakness, the police portrayed as the enemy, and an anti-business climate as well all while being told this is who we are. The people spoke out and said this is who we are and we will not be lead by a carpet bagging huckster that the office of president was to the good of herself and not the people.<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">I am the second fraction, I wake up, eight to five, and I toil for every dollar. I don’t need a statistic I see it in common sense.<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span>I see more money in my paycheck, I see the business climate picking up, and I have seen people I know that have been out of work for at least two years back at work, I am seeing the immigration situation being addressed. I didn’t vote for someone to teach Sunday school, I voted for them to get results and I see it in real time day in and day out and that’s common sense I could go on, but I have to get ready for work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</span><o:p></o:p></b></div><br />Davin Rosenblatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06089495720643921183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5409503230198327045.post-7822024740810765592018-09-20T11:01:00.000-07:002018-09-20T11:01:14.575-07:00CRITICAL THINKING - By Davin Rosenblatt<br /><div class="MsoNormal">As long as I have been an adult I have always valued critical thinking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I think it is why I went to law school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I was never good with numbers so subjects like statistics were never attractive to me even though it is cold hard facts and there is no room for feeling or emotions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I liked being able to get as much information as possible and choosing the best solution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>To me that seemed like the obvious choice.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">However, perhaps I am in the minority in this country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I see so many people just motivated by emotions and feel when the facts and logic and experience and history clearly say this is the incorrect path.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>It drives me nuts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Discussions between people ruled by emotion and people ruled by fact seldom go anywhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>It is like talking in two completely different languages. Both people think the other is clearly missing the obvious and is a moron.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I think emotion is great when you are cheering for your favorite team.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I just don’t think it should be the guiding principle in most major decisions and choices. It can lead you into some very big mistakes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>We all think our first love will be our forever love. We can’t imagine life without that person. Our parents tell us to slow down as we have plenty of options and a whole life ahead of us. We think our parents are idiots.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Invariably, for most of us, our parents were correct and our first love was not our forever love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>As we grow older we still use emotion for love but those of us that find fulfilling relationships also use the information we gathered from our failed relationships.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>We pick up on certain traits that are deal breakers for us. Certain life styles that will not make us happy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>We use that information to avoid getting into a serious relationship that will inevitably fail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>The lucky ones take all of the failure and turn it into success.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I would suggest that they sprinkled in some critical thought into their quest for love.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I think people fall in love with their politicians.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>There were a lot of people who absolutely loved President Obama. He could do no wrong…even when he was wrong. The same holds true for President Trump.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Things that they use to hate they love. Russia comes to mind. Deficits are another. There are plenty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>When these people fall in love with their president they defend him like he is their boyfriend even if it is obvious the president is making a mistake.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I never fell in love with a president. There are presidents I like and presidents I don’t like but I always knew they worked for me. It was not emotional for me it was business.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>That is what allows me to go from topic to topic and not view a president as all bad or all good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I think critically about what they are doing and how it affects things I care about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>See I have emotion but it does not rule the day.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Politicians know we are ruled by emotion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>They create slogans for us to latch onto. Hope and Change. Make America Great Again. It is much catchier than “things will be slightly better if we vary our path a little”. Nobody could get behind that. Most people do not take the time to look at a politician’s background. Their past, their votes, their wins, their losses their flaws. Nah most of us grab onto the slogan and a well delivered speech.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal">I think letting our emotions rule us and not looking at things critically is tearing this nation apart. Nobody dares to think, research, or listen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>It is much easier to get all worked up and scream. My guy is the best and your gal is the worst is much easier to wrap our minds around even if the truth is probably somewhere in the middle. I’ll give you an example from this week’s radio show.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>We played a new ad from Democratic senator Elizabeth Warren. She talked about among other things how bad Goldman Sachs was bad and Trump’s cabinet was filled with people from there, looking out for the middle class, and how lobbyists control Washington.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>These are things she has been talking about for years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Donald Trump ran on many of those same points to great success.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Yet Trump and Warren feud. Trump fans hate Warren and Warren fans hate Trump.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I am guessing it is because neither really listened to what the other side was arguing for and what said candidate was doing about it. Nah, it is just easier to believe the other one is bad instead of critically thinking about what is being presented. So we fight and name call and hate.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I believe there should be renewed emphasis on critical thinking in schools starting in Kindergarten.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Looking at information and processing it. I am aware this is done now but I think we need to double down on it because it is just not sinking in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Now we have more information than ever at our disposal with easier access yet most of us prefer to believe a meme cobbled together by some basement dweller. If we can really emphasize that knowledge and critical thinking are things to be prized maybe we can slowly ween ourselves off of the toxic public discourse.<o:p></o:p></div><br />Davin Rosenblatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06089495720643921183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5409503230198327045.post-76832708647578109302018-09-13T07:45:00.003-07:002018-09-13T07:45:55.837-07:00THE VET - by Pip Helix (Davin's Den)<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">I looked deeply into my cat’s eyes this morning, and told him how much I love him and that everything will be okay.&nbsp; He was sitting in his cat carrier already, and was meowing his discontent. Having been to the vet twice recently for tests which assaulted his body and dignity, I’m sure he was aghast that we were doing this to him again, and anxious about what was to come.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><div lang="EN-US"><div class="yiv3997332260x_WordSection1"><div class="yiv3997332260x_MsoNoSpacing"><br /></div><div class="yiv3997332260x_MsoNoSpacing">What he doesn’t understand is that this is going to be a really important day for us all, kitty, Mr. Helix and me.&nbsp; Our dear Creamsickle (deliberately spelled like that to make him more badass, well, as badass as you can be when named after ice cream) has a tumor on his lung, and the vet has been giving us more and more alarming news since we first began noticing how thin he was becoming. Today, he is having surgery to have the tumor removed and biopsied, and from there we know what his prognosis will be.</div><div class="yiv3997332260x_MsoNoSpacing"><br /></div><div class="yiv3997332260x_MsoNoSpacing">Initially, the vet said that his prognosis was months, but months in which the tumor grew and pressed on his lung, making it more and more difficult to breathe, and making him increasingly uncomfortable.&nbsp; Right now, the only thing that seemed wrong was that he got quite thin over a period of time, and that he developed a wheeze not unlike that when a cat is about to cough up a hairball, only with no disgusting results.&nbsp; He acted fine, ate ok, and was his usual loving self.&nbsp; The vet said that the sound he was making was a cough, and an indication that something was wrong.&nbsp; Boy, was that an understatement.</div><div class="yiv3997332260x_MsoNoSpacing"><br /></div><div class="yiv3997332260x_MsoNoSpacing">The prognosis with surgery is unknown right now.&nbsp; It seems this tumor is in a difficult place to remove it entirely, caught up in some kind of lung structure that I don’t completely understand, and that there is a good possibility (I should say bad possibility) that they will not be able to remove it completely.&nbsp; Whatever is left will grow again, and depending on what the biopsy tells them is how long he may live.</div><div class="yiv3997332260x_MsoNoSpacing"><br /></div><div class="yiv3997332260x_MsoNoSpacing">Creamsickle is one of the two cats that Mr. Helix had when we brought our households together and created the Brady Bunch of cats.&nbsp; Sadly, the other cat he brought Mushyhead got cancer a few years ago, and all the chemo in the world didn’t save her.&nbsp; It’s with the memory of this and the demise of other beloved cats that we give him over to the vet this morning, hoping so much for more quality time for him. Neither of us want to torment him for nothing, but we have been assured that to leave it alone, the tumor would quickly become such a burden on his breathing, and he would be gone in months.&nbsp; The prudent thing to do, the loving thing to do,&nbsp; is this surgery.</div><div class="yiv3997332260x_MsoNoSpacing"><br /></div><div class="yiv3997332260x_MsoNoSpacing">So, today we swallowed with a huge lump in our throats, and told our cat how much we love him, and that it will be okay.&nbsp; I hope we weren’t lying to him.</div><div class="yiv3997332260x_MsoNormal"><br /></div></div></div></div>Davin Rosenblatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06089495720643921183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5409503230198327045.post-45441065637875552652018-09-06T08:49:00.004-07:002018-09-06T08:49:50.888-07:00MAKING TRACKS - By Joe Currie (Davin's Den)<br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Since I was a kid, I would always dream of being in a recording studio making an album. For the past thirty years I have been, two albums and several EP’s and endless demo tapes.<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The first time I went into a recording studio was back in nineteen eighty eight, with Joe and Anthony Cumia , our bass player Mike and our drummer Lou. I was so nervous and it was such a nerve wracking experience. The saving grace was we all never were in a recording studio before so it was a learning process for all of us.<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Several years later our band Finster, different name same line up would be heading into Paris studio. The studio owner Brian Unger was a great guy and a very good engineer and Paris would be our home for many years. These sessions at Paris were very good and we put out our demos. If you were an Opie and Anthony fan, the song “Dara” came out of those sessions as well as some other great tunes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span><o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Several years later in 1992<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Rot Gut went into Paris to record the “Live at the Apollo” album. I just fought my way back into the band as the recording progressed and played on one track. At that time sampling was a big thing and Joe Cumia utilized it as much as he could so much so the final song on the album was a song called “whatwuzthatthing” a five minute song with fourteen different samples. Even though I did not gather or record the samples I had to cover it live and I was able to thanks to my Trusty ASR-10, and SO-1 samplers. That was a memorable summer as we lived in that studio to get the project done. It is an amazing process that you would watch these tracks progress week by week. It is essentially like painting a picture as you are consistently adding something to move something from a sketch to this beautiful painting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span><o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">At this time we were rehearsing two nights a week and I was practicing every night, we did a recording session we won from a competition. The session was for a compilation album of Beatles cover tunes featuring all Long island bands. The project was called “Across the Universe” and the song we picked was “I wanna be your man”. The version we did was not like the Beatles version, we were Rotgut and it had to have our own stamp on it which it did. The song went from grunge, to punk, to reggae, back to punk again in three minutes. We had four hours to do it and the keyboards in the song were very demanding as I had to cover a horn section, a calypso section, and samples as well. I was able nail everything, and the studio was not that much of a big deal any more.<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">In 1996 we had an all day recording session at my house recording the preproduction for our next project which we called “butts in the ashtray”. Getting ready for it was grueling, the reason why is Joe Cumia is very demanding and not afraid to sink his fangs into me and he did a lot. But he put a work ethic in me that I have never forgotten and that work ethic carried over into comedy when I got back into that in 1997.<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></b><b>Soon after we went back into Paris to turn the Preproduction of “Butts in the Ashtray” into the EP ‘Slack &amp; Wack”. We were so well rehearsed that the sessions were fun and stress free. Again for you&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; O &amp; A fans the song “Marcia Brady” came from these sessions. I was covering horn parts, piano and I wrote, edited and triggered all the samples, we actually had a live horn section and I wrote some of the parts for them. I never sat at the control console or had much of a say in the mixing or production. I was told to sit in the back of the studio and keep out of the way. And I sat there, but I did not realize what I picked up until my next recording session.</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">My next recording Session was with Race Odyssey with Rock and Roll Johnny Race who I still play with in my ohter band Sexy Suzn. John was married to Anthony and Joe Cumia’s Sister Dawn at the time. As Anthony left to do radio Rotgut went on the shelf and I joined up with Johnny.<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">We entered a studio owned by Don Cassel, Don was noted for being the engineer for the classic rock song Inagodadavida by Iron Butter fly. We had a great time making the album and I actually was at the consol helping mix the album. While I was mixing with Don and John I was wondering how I knew what to do instinctively. I attribute that to listening to Joe Cumia and our Engineer Brian back at Paris Studios and subconsciously picking up all the knowledge of what to do. People commented that album had a wall of sound feel to it and that’s exactly what I wanted.<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">My next time in the studio was a monstrosity back in 2012. I was in the band McClinton and we were doing the remake of Phil Collin’s “In the Air Tonight” it was done ass backwards and the session was never completed.<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">When you record you want everything to be perfect because if it is not when you listen for years to come any imperfection will grate on you, with this in mind, I prepare for a recording session like Eisenhower prepared for D day.<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Our band Fragile Sky is now in the studio cutting four tracks for distribution, downloads, and to sell at shows. The day of the album is gone. When you record, the drums and the bass go first, then the guitars. With either the vocals or keyboards going next. In these sessions the vocals went next.<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">This is a big help to me as I like to get a copy of the actual working studio tracks as I can work with them at home so when I go to the studio I know the songs in and out. Every musician has an idea what you want things to sound like in your head. The trick is to get what you want in your head on to the song. I had all sorts of sounds I wanted for the project and I used four keyboards for the sessions to get them. To leave no stone unturned I sat with each keyboard and went through each one, played the studio track against it and see if it would work. I then would make notes and compile a list. This process took eight hours and to complicate matters one the keyboards that most of these songs were written on fried at a show and could not be repaired. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span><o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Once this list was compiled each song was played and each keyboard went against the other to see which one would be the one that would be used for the track. This process took one weekend. With the keyboards picked I would go through each track again, again, and again to know each song in and out not to waste any minute of studio time. I then would go to rehearsal and play along to the studio track for the band to listen to, and then do the song live.<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Back home I would then make notes and then sit for hours again to make sure everything was perfect.<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">There is no better process than this as I arrived at the studio for my session prepared which was handy because I had only a certain amount of time before our harmonica player showed up and I had to be done. The tracks went pretty smooth. I also picked up some interesting recording tricks from Mike from my band and our engineer Frank. You do hear about disagreements in the studio and it did happen as Mike had an idea for a sound and I had my mine. The great thing is I joined the band because Mike’s theory on sounds and song construction are along the lines of mine so we combined our ideas and the songs came out great.<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">My tracks got done on schedule and Filipe our harmonica player came in and ripped the place apart.<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Stay tuned for the release date and come on out to a show. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;&nbsp;</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span><o:p></o:p></b></div><br />Davin Rosenblatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06089495720643921183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5409503230198327045.post-76886445893164946802018-08-22T13:02:00.001-07:002018-08-22T13:02:07.667-07:00COMEDY ISN’T FOR EVERYBODY - By Davin Rosenblatt<br /><div class="MsoNormal">We all think we have a good sense of humor, are open minded, and can take a joke.&nbsp; Many of us are wrong.&nbsp; Many of us like jokes that do not make us uncomfortable or talk about something that we don’t find funny. We are picky. We know what we like and if it is not what we like then the joke must not be funny.&nbsp; That is completely wrong.&nbsp; Comedy like all art is subjective.&nbsp; I would argue that if one person laughed ever it was a funny joke. It may not consistently get laughs but somebody found it funny. &nbsp;Is the person who laughed wrong for laughing? Of course not.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">There have been many times where an audience member is laughing and having a good time and then I do a joke that they do not like. Their demeanor changes. They tighten up. Sometimes they heckle. Sometimes they leave. Sometimes they throw objects. Sometimes they tell me after the show that they did not like a certain joke. It is fine that you do not like a joke or a topic. I do think it is a bit unrealistic to go to a live comedy show where you do not know the performers and expect you will like every joke or every topic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Even more absurd is the feeling that an audience member must tell the performer that they are bothered. I do not see how that is the performer’s issue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>That is the audience member’s issue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>We don’t get to watch You Tube videos of the audience before they walk in. The audience can do some research on the performer. Years ago I had an audience member walk up to me after an hour long set. She said she did not like my joke about diabetes because somebody she loved had diabetes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>So she likes 59 minutes but one minute bothered her so now it was my problem. I told her I had diabetes too and we could share a needle. It was a lie but if I had it too maybe then it was ok. It seemed to placate her and it saved me from having to explain to her how comedy works.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Speaking of how comedy works I now have done that during my show.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I have told an audience member who got offended about a joke about children being sexually abused.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I took the time during my set to explain I never make fun of the victims as I think that is distasteful to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I make fun of the criminals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I tell her comedy is subjective.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I tell her to hang in and there will be more jokes coming that she will like.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>She stuck it out and I even got her to laugh at some more child abuse jokes. Kudos to that lady for keeping her mind open.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Unfortunately, I think there are places that are not open minded that still think they want comedy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>If you put a lot of restrictions on a comedian you really don’t want a comedian. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span>You want knock knock jokes. You want a children’s show. You don’t want a comedian. I am not saying it is necessary for a comedian to be offensive. I am just saying there is a chance it could happen and it is your problem not the comedian’s problem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>There was a story in the news about a comedian / ventriloquist / illusionist who was performing at Purdue and the show did not go well. He had a female student on stage and had her stand back to back and said, “At least I got a feel.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>He also had the student touch his upper thigh.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Now is it something he should be doing at a college? Perhaps not. However, he was accused of sexual harassment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>That is not harassment. At worst it was misreading the room.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Students left in tears. They actually cried over this performance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>They of course made a hash tag about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>The school said the performance did not represent their values.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>The reality is many colleges should not even hire comedians anymore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>In a society where people get triggered and need a safe space over jokes hiring a comedian is a terrible idea. Just set up a big screen and show videos of guys stepping on rakes and getting blasted in the nuts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>It does not require thought.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Now I know I am being risqué, as a student might have had a ball injury and feels triggered about this constant assault on random testes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>The point is if jokes hurt then don’t put yourself in that situation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>In order to do comedy you need to have a set of juevos. Most people are afraid to speak in public. We do it, and we bear our soles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I never really considered us brave. I considered us doing what we are called to do. However, if hearing jokes has the power to bring people to tears imagine the strength of the people who dare repeat said jokes night after night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Unless of course the words are not really the issue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Maybe the real issue is that comedy is not for everybody. Maybe people need to realize that. Maybe comedians need to stop trying to put comedy in places where it will not be appreciated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Comedy is special.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>It has the ability to take power away from those that have it. It has the power to give power to those who have none. It has the power to make you forget your problems.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>But it can really only do those things for people that are willing to embrace comedy and not try and bend it to their will but instead be open enough to accept comedy for the gift it is even if you are not a fan of that particular gift on that particular night.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Comedy isn’t for everybody.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Comedy is for the open minded.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>It is ok of you are not open minded. You can binge watch Full House. Just for the love of god don’t see Bob Saget live. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span>You may not have the fortitude for his comedic stylings.<o:p></o:p></div><br />Davin Rosenblatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06089495720643921183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5409503230198327045.post-19107123138899682842018-08-15T07:44:00.001-07:002018-08-15T07:44:03.308-07:00Selfish Behavior Hurts the Handicapped - By Pip Helix (Davin's Den)<br /><div class="MsoNormal">There has obviously been a downward slide in public manners and civil behavior in recent decades.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>People seem to think that they should be allowed to do whatever they want whenever they want, without a second thought to how it affects others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Loud-talking on cell phones, demanding upgrades and comps wherever they go, and finding ways to game the system for their own advantage at the cost of others. All of this self-important behavior is unfair to other people in general. One particular part of society that is being affected by this selfish behavior is the disabled community.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal">Of course, great strides have been made in making the world more accessible for people with disabilities, especially since the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>It’s only right that every effort should be made to make accommodations for wheelchairs, hearing problems and sight issues, etc., wherever possible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>In the interest of full disclosure, I have long been more acutely aware of these issues, since I worked part-time in college for one of my professors who was wheelchair bound.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Also, with my mother’s mental illness and my father’s failing health in his later years, I realized that sometimes there needed to be a little give involved to help them through certain obstacles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>However, my brother’s recent mid-calf amputation has really pushed the issue back into the forefront of my mind. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">There is a Seinfeld episode where the main characters go to a mall, and George choses to park in a handicapped spot for their selfish convenience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>A wheelchair bound woman was injured due to having to park further away, and an unruly mob gathers around the car to wait for the person who illegally parked in the handicapped spot she needed. Obviously, part of the premise of Seinfeld is that the main characters are terrible people who do terrible things and never learn lessons, so no one was condoning their behavior and you are not meant to root for them to win this particular battle. Still, it was always a very annoying episode to me, because it irks me that people ever think it’s okay to take those spaces, even for “just a second”, or that they flat-out think “Screw them, I need a space.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Uh, don’t you think that people with handicaps have been screwed by life already? How about a little decency? I would have been standing in that mob, yelling for George’s head.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">A recent article on the Huffington Post website spoke about how people are ruining the idea of emotional support animals by faking the need for them, or bringing more and more outrageous examples of emotional support animals onto planes. I understand that there are people who may still scoff at the need for such an accommodation in the first place, but that is usually the lucky ones who have never experienced first-hand the crippling effect of some mental illnesses or emotional damage that would require someone to need such a thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Lucky you. For the people with legitimate emotional or physical issues that have been helped by support animals, the misuse of this accommodation by people who just want to bring their peacock onboard is very damaging.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>When the public perception of support animals turns to cynicism and scoffing, those who truly need and benefit from this help suffer needlessly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I mean, on top of the suffering they are already experiencing.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Look, in a desperate moment, who hasn’t used the handicapped stall in the bathroom, when no one was around who might need it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I’m not a saint.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I admit to using them when no one in a wheelchair was in evidence, and I hurry to get out of there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>If a handicapped person were to come in, they would have to wait 1 minute tops, and they could talk to me through the door to let me know they needed the stall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>It’s not the same with a parking space, where there is no way to call other driver out to move their car.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>And by the same token, a person who wants to travel with their penguin on an airplane (it’s happened) should have a legitimate reason.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>If everyone now looks at people with support animals as fakers gaming the system, because there are so many, then people with PTSD and other issues have to deal with unwanted scrutiny during airline travel, which is already stressful enough for people with no mental or emotional issues.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">What we can all do about this trend is to remember that we don’t always know what kind of issues others are going through, but try to be mindful of the ways we can keep from making their journey more difficult.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Educate others that it is not okay to park in the handicapped parking, or to fake having issues just to game the system.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>It dilutes the sympathy that other able-bodied people have for handicapped accommodations if every self-important person thinks that they are entitled to it as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>How about just thanking the deity of your choice that you don’t have to negotiate the world with that person’s challenges, and can walk to a further parking space, or fly without crushing anxiety.<o:p></o:p></div><br />Davin Rosenblatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06089495720643921183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5409503230198327045.post-53134656469622061592018-08-09T09:49:00.000-07:002018-08-09T09:49:12.767-07:00 LIFE WITHOUT A PHONE - By Joe Currie (Davin's Den)<br /><div class="MsoNormal"><b>For eighteen years I have owned a cell phone, we live in a society now where we can’t remember not having one and there is a generation that doesn’t even know what life was like without one.</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">For the first time in all those years I experienced life without a cell phone. It was a Friday last week and I was leaving the day program to head to my gig in Philadelphia, the trip in rush hour would be about three hours and change. I was leaving at 4:15 and the gig was at 9:30 so it gave me plenty of time to get there even with bad weather coming in.<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">I jumped in my car and left, about three minutes after I left I checked that I had everything and then my blood ran cold “I LEFT MY CELL PHONE AT THE DAY PROGRAM”. I immediately turned around to head back when I saw my coworker who locked up pass me by. I then turned around and then tried to catch up to him with speeds that would make Vin Diesel shit his pants, but no luck he was gone. I immediately went back to the office to see if anyone was there as someone maybe staying late, but no it was a Friday afternoon and the place was locked tighter than a crab’s ass. <o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">I sat there and as I stared at the building I came to the fact that I will be without a phone for the weekend and I will also have to drive to Philly without a phone. I was pissed at myself for being so stupid and this was the second time recently I lost track of one of my belongings ,the last time was in November when Davin and I were on the road in Myrtle beach and I left my bag in the comedy club parking lot. This time wasn’t as bad as I know where the phone is and that it is safe unless the cleaning people steal it which I doubt as they always are very honest but none the less it was still on my mind.<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">I had no choice, it is what it is and I started to head to Philly. The trip west through Long Island was fine but when I had got to Brooklyn there was a string of nasty thunderstorms and there was flooding everywhere. I heard on the radio that the Belt parkway which is one of the main roads to get off Long Island into Jersey was stopped, as I have been gigging for twenty two years I know all the short cuts and I took the local roads which were slow but moving. When I got to the Verrazano Bridge which is how you get from Long Island to Staten Island and then to Jersey it was already six forty five. Time was ticking and not in my favor. I will just make this gig and if I am running late I will just call, oh yeah that’s right” I DON’T HAVE A PHONE”. How am I going to call and let them know I am running late, I am the headliner and if I am really late I can still make my spot but how would they know?<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">I crossed the bridge and the ride through Staten Island was brutal as the flooding from the storm wreaked havoc. I figured when I got into Jersey it would be better, it was seven thirty when I got into Jersey and it was just getting worse. As I am sitting in traffic I am trying to get a game plan going. When I get on The New Jersey Turnpike I will go to a travel plaza and find a pay phone to call the club, however there are no more pay phones anymore and do you know what and idiot I would feel like looking for one “ Do you have a pay phone? Yeah it’s by the Telegraph office stupid”. Another option is maybe find someone in charge at the rest stop and explain the situation and I could borrow their phone or they could call the club for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;&nbsp; </span><o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">It was eight fifteen when I got to the New Jersey Turnpike, I know from years of working at this club that it takes forty five minutes from the exit I’m at to get to the club. I decided to haul ass at eighty to ninety miles an hour down the turnpike and then into Pennsylvania. Arrival time for the nine thirty show is nine PM. I got there at nine o’ two, I got there with not one minute to spare but thank god I did not have to use a phone.<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The one thing that concerned me is I wrote to Joe’s girl that I was leaving for Philly right before I left the phone at the day program. I was worried because I know she would be worried and I could not write back to her until I got home and onto my desk top computer at three am.<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The trip home was uneventful and then there was Saturday. I had to go to the car dealer and sit for two and a half hours for something that was supposed to take an hour and a half. I did not miss my phone as I was making notes for our Davin’s Den Scams the Scammers clips. They take time to log and edit( so I hope you listen to them) anyway that kept me busy and I am on my way home now to have a nice lunch and then leave for the gig again in Philly. I have to leave at five. At quarter to three I get a flat five miles from my house. The only place to change the tire is a sandy patch on the side of the road. I look at the situation, I have two hours to change the tire, put on the donut spare, find a tire place to fix the tire and put it back on the truck and get to Philly. And again no phone if something goes wrong.<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">A Good Samaritan helped me with a better jack and gave me a tip on how to get the tire off as it was stuck to the rotor. After forty minutes, cutting my hand on the cheap shit jack handle, and being covered in sand and sweat I was on my way back to the house. I got home took a shower and headed to the gig trying to find a tire place on the way because I can’t drive to Philly on a donut.<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">It is now four thirty and of the two of the tire places I went to, one could not get me out until six, and the other one could not work on the car until the next day. I knew that there was one of those “We Fix Flats” places so I decided that I will just head west on the donut and if I had to I would have to drive forty miles an hour to Jersey on the donut and if that goes flat I will just call the club,, oh yeah that’s right, NO PHONE. With luck I found the fix a flat guy and I was on my way by five.<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The trip to the gig was fine and I got there with time to spare. I did find that when you do have down time without a smart phone you don’t know what to do with yourself. It amazes me that for two days I was off the grid and besides of the necessity of a phone in case of an emergency I did not miss it much as it was nice to get a break from the texts and emails.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;&nbsp; </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span><o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">I got into the Day Program Monday morning and immediately started to look for the phone. I went to the two places that I thought they might be,,,,it’s not there. One of my coworkers tried to call the phone and no ringing. I am now starting to freak out as I just paid the phone off last month and I can’t afford a new one. As I walk past the reception desk there it is. The cleaning people found it and left a note. What a sense of relief. It is amazing how much we rely on these things and they are such a big part of our lives and how something that was not even around twenty five years ago is now a needed appliance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span><o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">During this whole ordeal I was saying to myself that there must be a reason for all of this, and I believe there was, the first text and voice mail was from my estranged wife saying she is not signing the Divorce papers sent to her. And there is the reason, why ruin the weekend with bad news, and about the divorce? That will be a story for another day. Got to go the phone is ringing. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;&nbsp;</span><o:p></o:p></b></div><br />Davin Rosenblatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06089495720643921183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5409503230198327045.post-60081751206593248302018-07-30T12:27:00.000-07:002018-07-30T12:27:00.484-07:00THE NEVER ENDING JOURNEY TO NOT FAT - By Davin Rosenblatt<br /><div class="MsoNormal">Being the fat kid sucks. I am not going to bullshit you and say looks don’t matter and you should be comfortable in your skin no matter how you look.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Looks do matter. They have always mattered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>People who say they don’t matter are either liars, look good, or are much more evolved than I am. Being fat as a kid means you get ostracized.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>You are different.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>You are a target for bullies and ridicule.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>As you start to get older it means you are much less likely to date.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>It means while your friends are dating you are home alone or the dreaded third wheel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>For my youth I was always the fat kid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I had friends and I played sports but for those who did not know me I was a target. Goodbye self -confidence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>As I approached 15 I realized I wanted to change my life path. I ate a lot of salad, drank a lot of water, and cut down on bread. Lo and behold I got my first girlfriend. In fact other girls started to notice me as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I am just shallow enough to know that made a difference in how I felt about myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>When I look better I feel better about myself emotionally.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I don’t know why fat is a problem in society but I know it is and I know I am not strong enough to take on the onslaught of looks, derision, and whispers of being too fat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal">In college I gained the freshman 15 but I also lifted weights fairly often. I would continue this throughout my college years and though I was no longer the 27 inch waisted kid I was at the end of high school I was in shape and muscular.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I have never been shredded.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Even when I was running a mile every day in 95 degree heat and doing an insane amount of work on my abs I was never ripped but I was in shape.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I did pretty well with the ladies in college. Even though I ate crap and a lot of it I was working out and had a youngster’s metabolism.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">When I met my wife I was 150 pounds and built. I had a 32 inch waist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I was also getting ready to start law school, would soon begin a comedy career, have a part time job and of course a new girlfriend. There was just not enough time to work out regularly like I use to. I was happy. I was busy. I was not focused on my fitness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I am not one who gorges themselves on food. I don’t eat a lot. I don’t eat exceptionally bad. I just slowly gain weight. I like to eat at night in bed watching tv. I like to sit on the couch and eat junk food. I really do enjoy eating. It makes me happy. I like sweet. I like savory. I like food. I like food much more than I ever liked working out. Maybe you can relate.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Leading up to our wedding we did the South Beach diet together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>It worked very well for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Don’t get me wrong, I hated not being to eat exactly what I wanted but my fiancée made a lot of the food. I essentially was living off of turkey roll. I was fine with it because I was losing a few pounds every week. I like to see the numbers go down on the scale. It motivated me. I did not have to lift heavy objects at a rapid pace. I looked good for my wedding. I definitely could not have done it if my fiancée was eating chocolate cake every night. I do not have that type of will power. It definitely works better when you are doing a program with someone to help motivate each other.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">After the wedding we stopped the South Beach diet and fell back into bad habits. Slowly but surely the pounds crept up. It is always a slow climb. A couple of pounds every year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>A few years later my wife is pregnant and that seems like the perfect excuse to eat poorly. And I did. Now don’t get me wrong, I have had gym memberships and I actually went for quite some time. I don’t like going. I hate getting in the car to drive someplace just to be uncomfortable. The point is I was trying. I was walking the treadmill and riding the bike. I was lifting weights.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Thank goodness or I would have really ballooned up. I always tried to keep my weight in check but if you are not exactly on point it is a battle you can lose.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>So a bit after my daughter was born we tried Nutri-System.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>The food was not great but the plan was easy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Once again the weight came off fairly easily. Don’t get me wrong, I preferred bigger portions and sweeter sweets but it worked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Once again though once off the plan the weight slowly crept back up. I was your typical yo -yo weight gain and loss person. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">On top of that I stopped going to the gym. It was too far (15 – 20 minute drive).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I did try and walk the hills in my complex. I was still mobile but my eating habits were bad and my metabolism had slowed down considerably. I was getting rounder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>When the crew came to film American Greed at my house we took some pictures. I did not post them because I did not like how I looked. The self-esteem was plummeting. That was the spring of 2017. We then went on a cruise to Cuba. I did the cruise lifestyle and grew to my fattest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Things were trending badly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>When American Greed came out on tv I joked on the radio that I looked like I ate myself.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hmccia3ar9Q/W19mGT3H8CI/AAAAAAAAFvs/-olKlilzdWQUxwlhixiMSxuJ7pENcXcRgCLcBGAs/s1600/DavinAmericanGreed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="512" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hmccia3ar9Q/W19mGT3H8CI/AAAAAAAAFvs/-olKlilzdWQUxwlhixiMSxuJ7pENcXcRgCLcBGAs/s320/DavinAmericanGreed.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">When we came back from Cuba my wife decided she had enough of her own weight issues. She subscribed to some something called Beach Body.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>They had a lot of work out programs so she picked one she wanted to do and I agreed to do it with her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>We started with 21 Day Fix. It was a high intensity work out 7 days a week for 30 minutes a day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I did lose some weight. I was not following the meal plan but I was toning some and some pounds were coming off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>We did this program for awhile.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Then we would mix in those work outs with some other work outs. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Still some of the weight I had lost was coming back with a quickness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>There is nothing more frustrating than working hard physically and still gaining weight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Plus nobody seemed to really notice that I had lost weight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>It was frustrating.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>We did drop some weight before our trip to Italy so we were at least happy about that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>The food in Italy is delicious so I was not going to stick to a diet there anyway.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">About a hundred days ago my wife was growing bored of our workouts so she wanted to do 80 Day Obsession which is more like 100 days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>You work out six days a week for about an hour a day doing weight training, while doing cardio, and compound movement all while on a very strict eating plan. And no cheat days…F@#k my life.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Can I just tell you I hated waking up in the morning to work out. So many times I wanted to quit within the first couple of minutes of the work out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>My couch and Scrubs is way more enticing than a work out mat and loops and sliders.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>If you don’t know what loops and sliders are they are essentially resistance bands and pie tins that are extremely frustrating to deal with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>The woman who leads the work out, Autumn seems like a nice enough gal but I hated her. She was too peppy with too many platitudes and motivational sayings. I am sure this is helpful for some people . For me I envisioned doing horrible things to her just to get her to shut up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I soon realized that some times the equipment we were told to use was nothing more than an excuse to use the stuff we bought from them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I stopped using some of the stuff on some exercises. Even Autumn came around and stopped using the stuff on occasion.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">The pounds were not flying off of me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>It was frustrating. I was doing the eating plan and working out very hard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I missed white bread and soda. I was tired of vegetables. I don’t want spinach at 7 Am in the morning!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>My mood was deteriorating because the pounds were not coming off quickly and I had never worked so hard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I lost a few pounds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>My body was changing a bit. I was toning but I needed to see the numbers come off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>About half way through I convinced my wife that we scrap the meal plan and just watch what we eat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>The pounds started coming off more quickly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>The meal plan which had us eating 5 times a day was actually too much food.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>With the number on the scale going down my mood brightened.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Next up my annoyance at the woman leading the work out. Shut the F@#k up is never good to yell at a tv.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I started playing music during the work outs. I still heard Autumn but at least on occasion I could lose myself in the music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Every day my wife pushed play on the video and every day I joined her. Often followed up by playing softball in the evening.&nbsp; Now my wife thought Autumn was delightful enough though maybe a bit too peppy sometimes.&nbsp; I think I work out harder on rage and determination than light hearted inspiration.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">That is another thing. This work out beat up my body. I don’t just mean muscle soreness. My knees really hurt taking stairs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>My back was aggravated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I was in pain and feeling worse than I did before working out. There is a lot of jumping while holding weights. I am not a fan of that. You can modify it but I tried to not modify as much as possible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal">Now it did help my cardiovascular conditioning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I do not get winded nearly as easily.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>It did help my strength. I am lifting heavier weights than I was before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I did get an oblique cut.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I did not shred out the way I would have liked.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">In the last month my wife was starting to struggle with the workouts. She was bored and had enough. This is where I picked her up. I would not let her quit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>We were too close and she had worked too hard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Her body was changing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>She was getting uch thinner but she had problem areas that she was unsatisfied with. I wanted to quit but I wasn’t going to and I would not let her quit. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span>She had dealt with my bad attitude through most of it so it was time I set a good example for her.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">The week before the program ended we went to Florida. I was not going to work out in Florida. I was not going to starve myself in Florida. We went and had a good time. We each lost weight that week. Apparently ice cream and amusement parks are a good work out.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">We came back and started Peak Week…the hardest week of the program.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>It was hard. It was not Butter Beer and ju ju fruits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I would end the work outs covered in sweat like I just got out of the shower.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">We did it. Did I lose what I wanted to on the program? No. I thought it was a weight loss program. It was a toning program. Am I in better shape? Absolutely! My shoulders are broader, my waist is smaller, my butt is smaller (not that I was worried about that), and my stomach is flatter. I look better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I have more work to do. I will never do this program again. It is too strict for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I will pick various work outs over the next few months to maintain and then October there is another program I hope to start. Work out 4 days a week for 30 minutes with high intensity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I am going to hate it but I will hate it 30 minutes less at a time. I don’t like working out. That will not change.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I do like being in better shape for all the vain reasons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I am not an inspiration. I am not going to tell you that I am going to embrace this new lifestyle. I won’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I will try. I will fail. I will push again. This will be a life long struggle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I’m in it. Why? Because my vanity says I have no choice.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AoIdngxXK5I/W19mPLba6iI/AAAAAAAAFvw/DArUz5t9apwOtvYBKLduz4lZjBpxxpvwACLcBGAs/s1600/Davin%2B80%2BDay%2BObsession%2BComplete.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AoIdngxXK5I/W19mPLba6iI/AAAAAAAAFvw/DArUz5t9apwOtvYBKLduz4lZjBpxxpvwACLcBGAs/s320/Davin%2B80%2BDay%2BObsession%2BComplete.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><br />Davin Rosenblatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06089495720643921183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5409503230198327045.post-77837226648015685422018-07-23T11:03:00.000-07:002018-07-23T11:03:41.325-07:00They are telling you – You have to listen - By Pip Helix (Davin's Den)<div class="yiv4958679368MsoNoSpacing" style="background-color: white; color: #26282a; font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">I remember reading somewhere that in relationships, people usually tell you what they want and where you stand with them.&nbsp; Of course, you have to actually be listening to what they say, and have to be brave enough to take the words in, without changing it into what you hope they just said.&nbsp; I wished I had known this so much earlier in life, because I would have saved so much time I spent on people not worthy of the effort, friends, family and love relationships alike.</span></div><div class="yiv4958679368MsoNoSpacing" style="background-color: white; color: #26282a; font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="yiv4958679368MsoNoSpacing" style="background-color: white; color: #26282a; font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">Why didn’t I listen to the many signals my so-called best friend sent out over the years that she did not value our friendship?&nbsp; I can recall several painful moments where she told me, not in so many words, but the message was that I wasn’t important.&nbsp; When filling out the middle-school yearbook questionnaire, she answered the question, “Who do you hang out with?” by saying “No one special”.&nbsp; I happened to be on the yearbook staff, and the teacher advisor took me aside to show me her response.&nbsp; At the time, I didn’t understand why he did that, but as an adult, I realized that he saw what I was not ready to see – that she was not a good friend.&nbsp; He changed the answer to “Friends” before it printed, I think in order to spare my feelings. When I asked her about what she wrote, she gave some strange excuse like she didn’t think it was anyone’s business, but since we had few other friends, everyone knew who her friends was anyway.&nbsp; It made no sense.&nbsp; Now I know that she was saying exactly what she thought.&nbsp; I was “no one special”.</div><div class="yiv4958679368MsoNoSpacing" style="background-color: white; color: #26282a; font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="yiv4958679368MsoNoSpacing" style="background-color: white; color: #26282a; font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">Of course, there were other things that were said or done that made me delude myself into thinking that I must be mistaken, or being overly sensitive.&nbsp; Whatever the reason, I clung so hard to my childhood friend, well into the first year or so of college, until she finally rejected me outright.</div><div class="yiv4958679368MsoNoSpacing" style="background-color: white; color: #26282a; font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="yiv4958679368MsoNoSpacing" style="background-color: white; color: #26282a; font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">I had been asked to be a bridesmaid to a new college friend, and I guess I was complaining too much about what a process it all was and how it was more rigamarole than I expected. She said to me, “Well, don’t expect me to do any of this when you get married – don’t even ask me.” Ouch.&nbsp; Who says that to their supposed best friend? Yes, being a bridesmaid or a maid of honor can be a lot of work, but it is a rite of passage for all women.&nbsp; Your friends get married, you wear an ugly dress and let them fuss over how you are going to wear your hair, etc. I was still unable to hear what she was telling me.</div><div class="yiv4958679368MsoNoSpacing" style="background-color: white; color: #26282a; font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="yiv4958679368MsoNoSpacing" style="background-color: white; color: #26282a; font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">Later in life, I was interested in a guy who belonged to a club I was in.&nbsp; We spent time together with the club, and then gradually started having coffee together.&nbsp; I was under the impression that we were making slow in-roads into getting together when he said to me, “So, are we becoming friends?”&nbsp; Why didn’t I hear that for exactly what it was – I was already friend-zoned.&nbsp; I heard, oh wow, we are getting closer.&nbsp; We went out on many what-seemed-like-dates, but without any end of the night kiss, and I thought he was shy.&nbsp; HA!&nbsp; He was dating someone else, but was afraid to tell me. It wasn’t until he screwed up the courage to tell me that I knew for sure that nothing was ever going to happen between us.&nbsp; But I should have, because he told me what I was to him.&nbsp; A friend.&nbsp; I just didn’t listen.</div><div class="yiv4958679368MsoNoSpacing" style="background-color: white; color: #26282a; font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="yiv4958679368MsoNoSpacing" style="background-color: white; color: #26282a; font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">When I started to date my now-husband, we spent an evening at Dave &amp; Buster’s, a restaurant/bar with arcade games.&nbsp; We were having a lot of fun, racking up tickets to be turned in for a prize, and he was casually saying that we could hold onto them and save up for a better prize another time, that we might be able to try for the big prize…a lot of “we”, and talking about the future.&nbsp; This time, I knew that people tell you what they think.&nbsp; And I was listening.&nbsp; This person likes me, this person wants to spend more time with me.&nbsp; This person values my opinion, even if it is about Dave &amp; Buster’s prizes.&nbsp; He was telling me what I was to him from the very start.&nbsp; And this time, I listened.</div>Davin Rosenblatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06089495720643921183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5409503230198327045.post-24185266307418889982018-07-18T06:57:00.003-07:002018-07-18T06:57:59.798-07:00STILL GOING AFTER ALL THESE YEARS - By Joe Currie (Davin's Den)<br /><div class="MsoNormal">My long time band Rotgut played last night, we played all cover tunes and no originals. Gone are the days of the full show and everybody in our out fits (except for me because I cannot play live in this band if I’m not in a dress). We were not the headliners and we did not have the luxury of the gig being plugged on a prime time radio show for a month, and nobody in the audience really knew who we were. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">This was our fourth gig in five years since the band reconvened after a ten year break.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">We always enjoy playing but we all had a great time playing this gig as there was no stress and you could feel the vibe on stage that we just had a blast just cranking out tunes and having fun.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Just enjoy what you are doing and have fun. As Viv the keyboard player in Spinal Tap would say “ have a good time all the time”.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Later that night over beers at the compound Anthony Cumia and I were talking and commenting how we are still doing the same stuff we did at eighteen. Obviously one of us has been more successful at it and it aint me, but the bottom line is what I said at the top, it’s about the fun ,and how you love what you’re doing and what you feel your meant to be doing. Earlier in the day I was in the studio with my other band Fragile Sky laying down the beginning tracks to our new project and it is just so cool to spending the day making music with these two amazing bands.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Davin, our friend Chip and I are writing a series based on my life, we embellish a lot of it as it is a dramatic Comedy or Dramedy. In the show I’m essentially playing in a band, a standup comic, and do a radio show. My character on the show wants to make it at any cost. As I review the script I am driven but I am not as frustrated as the character in the show because at this point of the game I realize things may not happen in my career as a comic or musician but the thing is I’m enjoying the ride.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span>Have I sacrificed things for this business? Yes since I was sixteen every decision I have made is how it would affect the band or comedy. But as Anthony and I discussed, we stuck to our guns and as two gentlemen in their fifties we are still doing what we love while people of our age have given up on their dreams and go to work, come home, watch TV and go to bed.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Even though I still have to go to the day program, at five my day does not end I’m out almost every night at a band rehearsal, at the radio show, gig, or writing meeting and I would not trade it for the world. As I say it’s a life style and there is no other place I want to be on weekend than a comedy or rock club.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">So do what you love and don’t stop if it feeds your heart and soul. And maybe at the next<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Rotgut show maybe I will give myself a break and not wear a dress, sorry no can do. <o:p></o:p></div><br />Davin Rosenblatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06089495720643921183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5409503230198327045.post-67369389578766949712018-07-09T10:40:00.002-07:002018-07-09T10:40:13.715-07:00The Jersey Shore - By Davin Rosenblatt<br /><div class="MsoNormal">I was born in Jersey. I grew up in Jersey. I live in New York. I miss Jersey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>New Jersey has wonderful beaches though if you are from New Jersey it is not the beach. You are going down the shore. At least that is how everybody I know refers to the Jersey beaches.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>A lot of people probably associate the Jersey shore with the show Jersey Shore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>The Jersey Shore certainly gave one aspect of our beach life.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">If you are young then yes the New Jersey beaches offer a lot of nightlife and debauchery. Though I have never been kicked out of night clubs or peed behind the bar like cast mates of the show I do know the night life is full of energy. There are dance clubs, rock clubs, comedy clubs, and boardwalks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>All cranking out loud sounds and beckoning your attention. Flashing lights, high hair, loud Jersey accents; it is all very distinctive. It is all Jersey. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">The food…oh the food. The Jersey Shore of my youth had huge $1 pizza slices which were delicious. I would drive a couple of hours just to get the slice. Gas and tolls were cheaper then and I didn’t mind the drive. The grease oozing down my chin. Yum. There is also frozen custard, the best salt water taffy, cheese fries, zeppoles, and for seafood loves fried clam strips.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>If you know people from Jersey then you know they love food.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Now you can travel and find some of these features at other beaches but not in so much quantity. Not so unapologetically beckoning you to indulge while you are in your swim wear. Jersey tells you, that you worked hard to fit into that bikini but now you are at the beach so you need a freshly squeezed lemonade with half a lemon in it and some fried food. The food is like the people. In your face and dares you to ignore it.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">The beaches…I have to be honest, I have been to a lot more pleasant beaches than the Jersey shore. Beaches with softer sand, cheaper parking, warmer water, cheaper beaches, clearer water, and gentler waves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Our sand is like the people a bit coarse and rough. Like the people our sand is weathered and a little sharp.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>It is not that soft powdery stuff of the Bahamas. The sand like the people of Jersey will not be ignored.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>The parking is expensive. Jersey is expensive and the powers that be figure you have been eating fried food and cold drinks that a little cardio every few hours to run to the meter will do you some good. Bring quarters. Lots and lots of quarters for those ever present parking meters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>New Jersey is not a tropical state. We get a few months of summer and that’s it. Our water temperatures never seem to understand that come June we are ready for warm water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Our water is nice and warm in September when everybody goes back to school. Maybe our water has a Jersey sense of humor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Jersey charges to get onto the beach. I must admit this annoys me. It is a natural resource and should be open to everybody. It does seem wrong to pay for what was once free. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span>In more tropical locales the water is so clear you can see your feet and what lurks below.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>That is a bit comforting. The Jersey shore offers no such comfort.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>If you want to come into its water you will have to take it on faith that your feet are still below you and that nothing more dangerous lurks under you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>The water is not crystal blue. It is green from the seaweed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Crystal blue and clear is so predictable. You can get that anywhere. No the Shore like the people who live there are never quite what you expect. Just when you expect to receive the Jersey state bird you will get a hug and just when you think you are cool with somebody they will rip into you. And oh that Jersey sarcasm. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span>Are they being nasty or just joking? Who knows for sure? Kind of like our shore water. You know it is water but everything else is up to chance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Any beach will give you waves on a stormy day. Waves that leave you wondering which way is up. They will also give you calmness on a nice day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>The Jersey waves are a bit more ribald. Even on a nice day they may take you for a tumble.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Much like the people in Jersey you are free to enjoy their company but don’t for one minute get too comfortable and forget who you are dealing with. Before you know it a surge of green water might sneak up on you and dunk your head. The shore’s waves are fun but they are to be respected.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>This is not the calm lapping waves of Bermuda after all. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">There are places where the locals depend on being more than kind because you are their income.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>In Jersey the locals have a name for the people who flock to the Shore…Bennys.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Bennys in their eyes are a nuisance even though they sustain the local economy. They can’t wait for you to leave and give them back what they think is theirs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>This does not change even if you are yourself from the Garden State.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>You are still a tourist to them.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I have travelled the world and been to many beaches but none that has the life of the Shore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>It like its people is a rock and roll good time. There are better beaches for lazy days but if you are looking for a place where the food is fattening and delicious, the people are funny and sharp, the ocean is not a passive body of water but has just enough edge to keep you on your toes or knock you on your butt, and the sand is great for sand castles but will leave a mark if you decide to scrape along the bottom on your knees then the Jersey Shore is the place for you. It isn’t perfect but for me it is home.<o:p></o:p></div><br />Davin Rosenblatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06089495720643921183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5409503230198327045.post-80654989580278786752018-07-03T11:19:00.003-07:002018-07-03T11:19:37.740-07:00Vacation Anxiety - Pip Helix (Davin's Den)<br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9.5pt;">I don’t get excited about vacations until I am on the way, bags packed, tickets in hand. There is so much to do before I get to that point, I am an anxious mess until we get to the starting line. We don’t even have kids to worry about, but getting ready for a trip, particularly out of the country, is enough to make me drink.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">There are the normal considerations – valid passports, airplane tickets, hotels, transportation.&nbsp; These things are pretty easy now, since with the internet, there are companies falling all over each other to get you the best price.&nbsp; And with the new options of places to stay, like Air BnB type rentals, it’s not like you are about to get into a situation with no rooms available.&nbsp; In a pinch, someone’s aunt is renting out a spare bedroom somewhere.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">It’s all the things that are peculiar to me and Mr. Helix that are issues.&nbsp; For example, I have sleep apnea, which requires the use of a c-pap machine.&nbsp; For those not in the know, it’s a machine that forces air into your nose, to keep your air passage from collapsing multiple times during the night.&nbsp; Without this machine, I snore like a bear, and I kick my legs as I struggle for air while I sleep – a real treat for Mr. Helix.&nbsp; Also, without it, I wake up feeling worse than I went to sleep, and tend to fall asleep at inappropriate times, sitting up at my desk at work, or the moment people stop speaking directly to me.&nbsp; One time, pre-diagnosis and stone-cold sober, I fell asleep at Maxwell’s in Hoboken, NJ (a little black box of a music venue) while Blue Cheer was testing out their possible decibel levels.&nbsp; THIS is a problem.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">Lugging “Pappy” around with me is something that at least the airlines recognize these days, and they let you bring medical devices along with your carry-on.&nbsp; However, I have a little roller carry-one to keep Pappy in, and to all the other flyers giving me side-eye, it looks like I am slipping in an extra carry-on.&nbsp; Also, c-paps seem to look very suspicious to airport screeners, and I have had to unpack and sometimes disassemble parts of it for the screeners to be satisfied that I am not carrying a bomb.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">Also, I have the mistaken idea that problems that have been piling up anyway have to be dealt with before we leave.&nbsp; Why I think takeoff is the deadline for everything that needs doing is beyond me, but there it is.&nbsp; I get it into my head that I have to do all of the laundry, weed the garden, do paperwork that is already overdue, get in a tooth cleaning, etc., etc. Forget the fact that I have actual issues to deal with, like my brother being threatened by his insurance company every other day that he will be sent home from rehab before he is totally healed.&nbsp; I don’t even know what I can do if that happens while we are away.&nbsp; Also, the laptop responsible for planning our trip had a monitor freak-out, and only works when it is in the perfect position and then NEVER MOVED AGAIN.&nbsp; I sent it out to be repaired, and was told that this model is too “vintage” to repair.&nbsp; I bought it 5 years ago.&nbsp; God, that makes me feel old.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">There are so many things to juggle, and so little time before we leave, things are going to remain undone, some things will have to happen on the fly, and I hope that I don’t have a nervous breakdown before we even get to the airport.&nbsp; But, should I get there, I hope to relax and have fun.&nbsp; I’m just not there yet.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />Davin Rosenblatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06089495720643921183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5409503230198327045.post-85703760587331008982018-06-25T06:52:00.003-07:002018-06-25T06:52:39.907-07:00A TRIBUTE TO ELLIE - BY JOE CURRIE (Davin's Den)<br /><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">I got some sad news last week, the transmission in my Honda Element is starting to go and the heater is not working that great. To fix all that is wrong is going to run about thirty five hundred dollars, as my truck has over two hundred and fifty thousand miles it doesn’t make sense to keep it.<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">I am very upset as I love this truck and I have a big emotional connection to it. I did tell myself that I have to relax; it is a machine, and an inanimate object. I did think then, why do I or do people have a connection with their cars?<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span>I’m a car nut and I go to car shows, I buy car magazines, and the Velocity channel is constantly on at my house, but my truck is not a classic car or a collectable. <o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">My Truck though is a big part of my life and with the schedule I run during the week is my other house. In some cases I have been in the truck more than in the house especially a year ago when I left the only place I ever lived, and a twenty five year relationship, that truck was the only sense of normalcy that I had, it also sits in the drive way of the new house which is one of the few connections to the old house that I have, except the rocks I stole, but that’s another story.<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">This truck was part of a lot of memories as well, road trips, some great gigs, some bad gigs, it was the vehicle I used to chase down a hit and run driver which resulted in the cops making a big drug bust. It was also a place where Joe’s girl and I have had many special times. It has been my partner during December<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>when I have my Santa shows and on many a Christmas Eve when people are home with their families that truck is taking me to them to help make some long time memories to them.<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">I was in that truck when I had a family crisis last year and for a two hour ride I needed to pray for the tools to try to resolve it while <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span>that truck took me to that destination.<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Last year that truck was what I was driving when had to go to my sister in laws funeral. I stopped in front of my in laws old house on the way, and while I was stopped, I realized that my in laws are gone, my sister in law is gone and my marriage is gone and this home represented a family who took me in six months after my mother died and made me part of their family for twenty five years, and now it’s all gone.<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">That truck was by my side that day at the Cemetery when I was talking to my wife and we were telling each other that we tried to save our marriage but its better if we part. I then had to leave my wife at the cemetery and then go meet Joe’s girl, the home inspector, and the real estate agents at the new house for the inspection. That truck was part of that day, the day when my old life and my new life crossed paths, where I said good bye and put closure on my old life and then two hours later was opening the door on my new life and that truck was there to help me cross the bridge from one to the other.<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Yes Ellie, that’s her nickname, has been a dependable and loyal vehicle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Finding her successor is not that easy.<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Ellie is my second Element and the truck exactly fits my needs. Unfortunately Honda stopped building them in two thousand eleven and any used one is at least seven grand and has at least eighty thousand miles on it. The only truck that would be close to what I want is the Toyota FX-4 which is cool looking, and exactly what I want. The problem is that it’s still in the prototype stage and Toyota has not started building them yet. I saw it at the twenty seventeen auto show and again this year, so what is the wait?? <o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">I even told the people at the auto show I would but a deposit down now if they were going to build it.<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">As for right now Ellie still has some life to her and is chugging along. With the grace of god and a god mechanic she and I are going to get to that three hundred thousand mile marker before she calls it a day.<o:p></o:p></b></div><br />Davin Rosenblatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06089495720643921183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5409503230198327045.post-34885324078634703542018-06-06T12:13:00.000-07:002018-06-06T12:13:51.671-07:00THREATS AND VENGEANCE - BY DAVIN ROSENBLATT<br /><div class="MsoNormal">A friend of mine has a habit of getting into heated political debates on Facebook. I have gotten into debates with him. He is a good debater and he is very passionate. However, he can sometimes beat his point to death. It can be annoying sometimes. I just stop arguing when I have nothing more to say or I find myself becoming annoyed. Sometimes he continues posting. That is fine. I am done but he does not have to be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>The other day he got into a political debate and it turned ugly. Some things were misinterpreted as can happen online.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Next thing he knows this guy is threatening his life and bragging how he will be doing the world a favor by killing him. The guy says he has nothing to lose. He then shows my friend that he knows where he lives and his unlisted number. Now you can find these things fairly easily but it is very unnerving. Now the local authorities and the Feds are involved. Now he is in hiding and his family, quite rightly, is scared. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span>This all from an internet argument over politics.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I often see some on the right express glee over things that upset those on the left. They are not even weighing in on if they agree with the policy or law.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>They are just thrilled that somebody with different political beliefs is angered or in distress. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span>These are Americans happy that other Americans are angered. Like if you don’t think exactly like them then they must be the enemy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>It seems like now many in our country are fueled by vengeance. Compromise is a sign of weakness and only total annihilation will make America great.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">At some point you have to wonder who we are as a nation that we are willing to threaten, hurt, kill, fellow citizens over a difference of opinion. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span>At best politicians want to create a better society but just have different visions on how to get there. At worst they don’t care about the average citizen and are just in the position for power or treasure. In either case I don’t think it is worth threatening your fellow citizen. I don’t think it is right to think just because somebody does not agree with you that you wish them distress or worse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I am passionate about politics. I consider myself informed. I get angry. For the most part I keep myself in check. What type of example am I setting for my child if I lose my shit over words?<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I think society has a shorter fuse for those with different opinions because we tend to wall ourselves off into bubbles of people that think just like we do. They tell us how right we are. How bad they are. How they are hell bent on ruining America. And people buy into that and it fuels the hostility in a never ending cycle.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Leave your bubble. Meet your fellow citizens. Talk about your kids. Talk about music. Realize they are more like you than they are different from you. This world would be pretty boring if everybody was exactly like we were. Embrace the variety.<o:p></o:p></div><br />Davin Rosenblatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06089495720643921183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5409503230198327045.post-72280544600980565662018-05-31T13:36:00.000-07:002018-05-31T13:36:01.196-07:00Bandwagon Hate - By Pip Helix (Davin's Den)<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; direction: ltr; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">It seems that sometimes, the cool kids suddenly decide that something is no longer the "in" thing, and then everyone jumps on the bandwagon.&nbsp; I'm not necessarily defending any of the offending items or fashions, but the&nbsp; ostracism for wearing those looks, or owning those items confuses me.</span></div><div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; direction: ltr; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; direction: ltr; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Why, for example, did the mullet become such an object of derision?&nbsp; It was an interesting haircut for it's time, and really no worse than some of the other suffering for fashion looks we have all done, but it seems to be a dividing line between the haves and the have-nots.<br /></div><div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; direction: ltr; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">It seems like a not-so-subtle part of the unspoken class war in the United States.&nbsp; When you have a lot of disposable income, you can cycle through things, clothes and looks as easy as breathing. When you are concerned about feeding your family, you can't worry if your sneakers aren't up to snuff, or how people may scoff at a hairdo that is "so last week".<br /></div><div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; direction: ltr; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Just typing that phrase kind of pissed me off. If you can afford to throw away perfectly good items because they are no longer in fashion, why not be happy for yourself instead of looking down your nose at those who can't just remodel a kitchen because someone decided that stainless steel was the only acceptable type of appliance?&nbsp; Mark my words, by the way...stainless steel will one day be the avocado or harvest gold appliances of the future. And who cares? If it keeps the food cold, be happy.<br /></div><div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; direction: ltr; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The bandwagoneers, the keeping up with the Joneses folks, are the most vicious of them all. They love to point out supposed flaws in the style of those who either can't ot simply won't follow passing phases.&nbsp; And isn't what they are saying, basically, ha ha, you have less money than me?&nbsp; If you still have the much- maligned mullet, you don't have the money to be at the hairdresser or barber all the time, or worse, you aren't caught up in the game. How dare you not keep up with what the cool kids demand?</div>Davin Rosenblatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06089495720643921183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5409503230198327045.post-28985203340535005602018-05-21T08:54:00.005-07:002018-05-21T08:54:41.779-07:00JURY DUTY - By Joe Currie (Davin's Den) <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></span></span></span></b><br /> <span style="font-size: small;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">I </span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: &quot;Calibri&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-style: normal; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">was able to dodge the bullet for over eleven years, and then two months ago I got a questionnaire and then they got me,,, JURY DUTY uuch. <o:p></o:p></span></b></span><br /> <br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;">&nbsp;</span></o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">When you get jury duty you have to go, if not the Sheriff will kindly bring you.<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></b></div><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The first thing that any responsible citizen says when they get jury duty is “How do I get out of this shit”. The old strategy was to walk in and say you hate every one, which everybody used to do so they don’t buy that any more. The second tact that I would use is looking like I should be in front of a jury instead of in one.<o:p></o:p></span></b><br /> <br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I would sit there with a crazed blank look on my face and stare down the prosecutor and the defense attorney and after two hours and it would be “beat it stupid”, and I could go home as they don’t want me there.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I figured I would stroll in, pull old faithful and be back to the day program in no time. ,,,yeah well It’s fun to pretend.<o:p></o:p></span></b><br /> <br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I got called in for Grand Jury duty which is different from a trial jury .A <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span>trial jury hears the case and the Grand Jury hears the evidence and then recommends to indict the case to go to trial.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The first day you sit in a big room, there is no interview they just need ninety two people. As luck would have it , there was exactly ninety two, Great now if my lottery numbers would work that well.<o:p></o:p></span></b><br /> <br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We are brought up into another room where they assign us all to the locations that we will serve at. I have been assigned to the Riverhead court which is way out on the island by the Hamptons. The good news its twenty minutes from my house, yaay, the bad news its now four hours from the show, and three hours from the band’s studio. I tried to make it to the show one night and got there at 8pm, as you know we start at 6:30, so the past couple of weeks I called in from my House, nice but not like being in the studio with Davin and Pip.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">You may be saying several weeks how long are you on Jury duty for??? Twenty days, or as I say it TWENTY FUCKING DAYS !!!!! yeah, that’s right Grand Jury duty is twenty fucking days. I had to tell the day program to write me a note saying I’m an inspiration, how can people walk past the monument of me at work and go in knowing I’m not there, the company could go out of business. Apparently my boss was on Grand Jury Duty and knows that you ain’t going nowhere so they told me they will still pay me and enjoy. Very cool move on their part but here I am for twenty days.<o:p></o:p></span></b><br /> <br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">When you are on Grand Jury duty you have to wait for the District Attorneys to bring in their cases,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>that results in a lot of down time between cases which I use to my advantage to catch up on show stuff, day program stuff, and band stuff. I am actually writing this blog while I am sitting here waiting on a case. Twenty-two of us all sit here and the group of people I am with are actually very cool and we actually enjoy each other’s company. I never mentioned to them that I do a radio show, am a musician, and a comic. Thank god I never told them I’m a comic as all my jokes have fell flat.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">My diet has also has seen better days as people bring in food and there is a lot of eating as well as indicting.<o:p></o:p></span></b><br /> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></b><br /><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We heard a lot of cases; many involve drugs, drunk driving, robbery, and unfortunately child abuse. But when we indict these cases we do feel good that we are bringing these people to justice and they will feel the consequences of their actions.<o:p></o:p></span></b><br /> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The biggest problem I had was staying awake, the room is quiet and they have to read the law verbatim and it is enough to lull me asleep. I never got in trouble for it though the girl next to me did.<o:p></o:p></span></b><br /> <br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It is very tough being a comic and not being able to say anything while witnesses are being interviewed with the District attorneys asking the stupidest questions “how did it fell when he punched you repeatedly??? If felt great stupid what do you think. When the man pointed the gun at you what were you thinking?? Wow I don’t know, I was thinking about the laundry and not a slug coming through my chest.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">One of the things I will not miss is going through security every morning and afternoon making sure I had no change in my pockets jacket off etc. Most of the guards were cool some treated you like you were the criminals. One of the funniest moments is when some police officers came in for testimony.<o:p></o:p></span></b><br /> <br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The security entrance has four to five court officers, they have guns, uniforms and are no nonsense all business, and when the police officers come in they see them and say “uh oh it’s the cops.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It’s most likely a “you had to be there moment” but for us that were there it was hysterical.<o:p></o:p></span></b><br /> <br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I can’t blame the court officers for their attitude; you have to see all the riff raff that comes through there. And by the way to some of the people that come to court, please come properly dressed, your not going on a rap video you’re going to court and unless snoop dog is the judge that day you may have a problem my schnizzle. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span>There was also the seventy-year-old Hippy dude with silver hair down to his ass in a tee shirt, wearing paisley leggings. I would of taken a photo and posted it, but taken photos in the court house is illegal, but it would have been worth the fine and jail time as nobody believes me when I tell them. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Even though it was twenty days it did go quick, and what did I learn during those twenty days? Drugs especially heroin is one of the evilest substances on earth, it destroys lives and was at the root of a lot of the cases we heard. <o:p></o:p></span></b><br /> <br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The last case we heard was a guy that was driving drunk with kids in the car which is a violation of Leandra’s law which if you are driving drunk or on drugs, (which he was both) and you have kids under seventeen in the car.it is now a felony. This guy was a piece of shit and there were sixteen counts against him. When the District attorney gave his name and info we noticed that he was born on the day we indicted him. After we had voted yes to true bill of indictment on all sixteen counts the District attorney asked if we had any questions, I said yeah, after you hand him the indictment tell him we said Happy Birthday. Justice served, now leave me alone for another eleven years.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>Davin Rosenblatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06089495720643921183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5409503230198327045.post-34345391547800735682018-05-14T07:50:00.003-07:002018-05-14T07:50:33.429-07:00THE THRILL OF THE NEW JOKE - By Davin Rosenblatt<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument></xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles></xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]><style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style><![endif]--> <br /><div class="MsoNormal">For me one of the best things about performing stand up comedy is the thrill of the new joke.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I love the whole process. The little nugget of an idea that suddenly surfaces in my brain. The writing it down and expanding on some things and eliminating other things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Trying to figure out where in my set I will put the new joke. Taking it to the stage and trying to remember it. Saying it differently than I wrote it. Working on how I will use my voice and body in the joke. Seeing how the audience reacts. If the audience responds badly will I cut the joke short or will I ride it out and go down with the ship or pull it out in the end?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>If the joke fails what will I say to get the audience back on my side? How much more will I be able to create with the joke on stage than I could when I was writing it out? If it goes badly was there enough in the joke to give it another shot? </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">It is all quite a rush.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Many comedians stop writing once they get their 15, 30, 45, 60, 90 minutes, etc. They figure well these jokes always work. The audience leaves happy. The people who hired me are happy. I’ll just keep doing these jokes. There certainly is a logic and a certainty to that approach. I think there is also a laziness to that approach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>In my mind once a comedian stops writing he stops being an artist on some level. He is merely reciting the same lines he always does. He knows exactly where the laughs go. He has decreased the element of danger in his act. Live comedy should have some degree of danger in it.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I never really understood how one could turn off the comedic creative juices forever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I go through periods of time where I have a lot of new ideas for jokes and there are other times where it is hard to come up with anything new.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>That is to be expected.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I know ways to stimulate my creative juices. I find if I read current events or visit different parts of the country or world I am inspired to create and comment on what I am seeing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Then I store those little joke nuggets in my head eagerly anticipating the time I get to share it with an audience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>A new joke to me is like a flower waiting to bloom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>It lays dormant but then it bursts onto the scene for the world to examine and hopefully enjoy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>The audience’s laughter is the pollination process.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>If they respond well it may encourage me to push further with the joke. Find new tangents. Take new chances. If after enough time the joke does not get a good reaction the chances are that joke will die on the vine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I will conclude that I was wrong or I have not figured out how to do the joke…yet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>There may come a time when I can do the joke better so I may come back to it.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Many comedians are afraid of jokes not working; especially when they are getting paid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Well you certainly can’t have too many jokes failing in a set but if you never tried jokes you would not have a set to begin with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I guess my point is never let go of that thrill of creating.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>The excitement of new material will help keep you sharp.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>It will make audiences want to see you again as they know you will have new insights to share.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Creativity is an artist’s life line. Once it stops a little bit of us dies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div>Davin Rosenblatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06089495720643921183noreply@blogger.com0